


Devotion

by Miasen



Series: Partners [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Character Death, Romance, Smut, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:53:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 92,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22440628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miasen/pseuds/Miasen
Summary: For years Kakashi has kept to himself. He knows what will happen if people find out what he has been hiding and he’s fine with living like this, devoted to his job. There’s a vampire scourge that needs to be handled after all. Until everything changes when Iruka stumbles into his life, and maybe it's time to let someone close. However, in a world where vampires lurk in dark alleys and the monster underneath the bed might very well be real, dark secrets are not the only threat.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Partners [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/400837
Comments: 158
Kudos: 306





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally here, the third and final of the major instalments in the Partners series. This time it's Kakashi's story, and I hope you all enjoy~

A growl was the only warning before sharp teeth locked around flesh, trying to draw blood. With a very dignified yelp Kakashi pulled his hand away from the ferocious beast tucked underneath his arm. 

He was starting to wonder if it was time to stop complaining about spending most of his workdays stuck behind desks. At least there he wasn’t attacked by what appeared to be an ugly rat with a bad wig. 

A snarl betrayed the vampire he was hunting, and Kakashi threw himself to the side to dodge the sharp fangs going straight for his jugular. He wasn’t sure if the Maltese he was trying to save—or the vampire trying its damnedest to kill him—were the angriest, but the dog sure yapped loudest. The thing was barely tall enough to reach Kakashi’s ankle, and couldn’t weigh more than five pounds, but Kakashi was having the hardest time holding onto it. The animal wriggled like crazy, caring very little about the vampire that had only minutes earlier been trying to attack its owner. Kakashi had the sneaking suspicion the little monster wouldn't even care if its owner got murdered, the cold-hearted tyke. Kakashi was usually very fond of dogs, but this thing was a major asshole in a pretty pink hair bow. 

He pressed the dog close to his chest as he pulled his tanto from a sheath in the small of his back, bringing the short blade in front of his face as he locked his eyes on the vampire. Blood was smeared around its face, an unwilling donation from a victim Kakashi had been too late to save. 

Technically, he shouldn’t be out here alone, but an urgent call had come in, and all the unit members were already occupied. Kakashi had been itching to do something other than shuffling papers, so he had decided to dispatch himself, dug out his weapons and headed into the field. 

He’d found two corpses before he tracked down the vampire, and he was afraid there would be more bodies he hadn’t seen. When he’d disposed of the vampire he would have to investigate. Right now his priority was stopping it from harming anyone else.

Using a gun might have been quicker than his tanto, but there was always the possibility that bullets went astray, and he didn’t want to risk hitting any of the gawkers he could see pressed against the windows overlooking the street. He had no doubt several cell phones would be recording the fight, so he hoped the mask and eye patch stayed in place.

He contemplated putting the dog down, but he was pretty sure it would run straight at the vampire, thinking itself a whole lot bigger and badder than it was. To keep it safe he held it tight as he faced off with the demon. He fell into a comfortable stance with his palm tight around the handle of the blade and his eye focused on the vampire, waiting for the moment it struck out. 

It came seconds later, the vampire too driven by blood lust to realise that running straight at a pointy object was an awful idea. Its fangs were bared, sharp yellowish points in the middle of the blood, and it made an inhuman growl as it lunged as Kakashi. 

Kakashi was prepared for the attack, knew how to dodge, and how to thrust the blade to inflict maximum damage. The quickest way to dispose of a vampire with a blade was to cut its throat. That meant he had to get close while avoiding the vampire’s grip because the moment it got its hand on him fangs were sure to follow. For now he sidestepped the vampire with a quick spin. Distracting it, enraging it. 

It howled and snapped around, arms shooting out in an attempt to grab Kakashi, but Kakashi had anticipated the attack and was already twisting, and the vampire caught nothing but air. Moments later Kakashi was behind it. Normally he would have grabbed its hair and yanked its head back to expose the vulnerable throat, but with one arm occupied with a furry little beast, he had to use the knife hand to reach around the vampire and press the blade deep into the side of its neck, yanking the knife to him so it dragged over its throat. The cut wouldn’t be particularly neat, but it did the job, tearing flesh and ripping open carotids. Blood sprayed the sidewalk, another reason Kakashi had preferred to get behind the vampire to deliver the finishing blow. Too many new agents came back from missions drenched in blood, but Kakashi knew better. Blood was a bitch to clean out of clothing, so better to avoid it altogether. 

He yanked the knife out of the tendons it had stuck in, and the vampire crumpled to the ground, flesh already starting to turn to dust. Kakashi leaned down to wipe his blade on the vampire’s shirt before sheathing it. 

He’d almost forgotten about the poof ball under his arm, but it chose that moment to nip at his fingers, and Kakashi moved it until he was holding it in front of his face with outstretched arms. It was a kind of cute when it wasn’t biting him, even if it was doing its very best to intimidate him. Kind of hard to seem very threatening when you were little more than a ball of fluff though. Kakashi cooed at it, but it didn’t seem very impressed, and just snapped its tiny jaw in reply. Standing on the yet again quiet street he grabbed his phone and dialled Sakura’s number, toeing the corpse to ensure that it was dusting up nicely. 

Sakura and Lee were assigned to this quadrant for the night, but they had gotten caught up in an altercation in a nearby park and hadn’t been able to respond when someone called in the dead body they had found in an alleyway, drained of blood. Kakashi could have contacted one of the other Units to send in a spare team, but his aversion to paperwork meant this had been a nice excuse to get out of the office. He’d finally found the vampire trying to get into a townhouse, the Maltese running circles around it, trying to scare the demon off. It hadn’t been very successful, and as Kakashi arrived the vampire had spun around and lunged after the dog. Kakashi had scooped it up moments before the vampire got its hand around it and got itself a little hors d’oeuvre.

Sakura heaved an exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. The case she and Lee had been preoccupied with turned out to be little more than a standoff between two alpha werewolves both vying for the position as top dog in their pack, high on the approaching full moon and testosterone. A civilian had called in about some beast attacking people, and had been adamant that such wild beings shouldn’t be allowed to fight amongst themselves in a public park. Werewolves had rights though, and internal pack struggles were allowed as long as they didn’t hurt civilians. Historically these fights would have taken place in the wilderness, a clearing in the woods or a mountain plateau, but these were city wolves, and neither had the patience to wait until they got out of the city and found an area free of other wolves. They’d get a scolding later for disturbing the peace, and that was that. The civilian hadn’t been very pleased with Sakura and Lee for refusing to apprehend the werewolves, so Sakura had spent the last ten minutes dealing with that. Kakashi was sure she’d have preferred the vampire.

Knowing that everything was under control Kakashi hung up. He’d have to trace the vampire’s path to find where it came from in case there were more. Vampires tended to nest together, so they always made sure to find where it came from and who it had been in life if possible. He had to wait for the cleaners first, to ensure the vampire was dealt with. He called them and gave them his name and current address, and as soon as he mentioned a vampire and several dead civilians they were quick to reassure him that they were on their way.

As he waited he headed over to the door the vampire had been trying to dig his way through, wincing at the bloody scratches down the wood, seeing a torn-off fingernail embedded in the wood.

He knocked and announced himself. He half expected whoever had hidden behind the door to have retreated further into the house, but only moments later the door opened, a little old lady staring up at him, and then breaking into a pleased smile as she spotted the dog in Kakashi’s arms. Her eyes were magnified by thick glasses and she was wearing a pink nightgown with a pinker robe on top. 

“Good morning,” Kakashi said, lifting the dog a little. “Does this one belong to you?” 

The lady nodded and held out her arms, and the dog made a happy little yap and kicked off, leaving Kakashi with a little scratch from a claw on his forearm. He ignored it, glad to see owner and dog reunited and pleased he wouldn’t have to deal with the little brat anymore

“Is it dead?” the lady asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kakashi said, and the lady peered outside, seeing the disintegrating body.

“Good. I was afraid it was going to eat Cleopatra!”

“Cleopatra?” Kakashi asked, and the lady lifted the Maltese towards him. Cleopatra growled a little.

“This is Cleo! I was taking her out for her morning tinkle when I saw the vampire. I was trying to get her back inside, but Cleo is so brave and ran straight at the vampire to stop it. I just got inside before the vampire got me! You are so brave, yes you are!” The last was cooed in the dog’s face. “I was about to go back out to fetch Cleo when I saw you!”

Kakashi just stared at her incredulously. “You were chased by a vampire, and you were planning to go back outside to it?”

“Yes! I found this!” She nodded to her side, where a metal baseball bat stood leaning up against the wall. 

Kakashi wanted to tell her what a monumentally foolish idea that was, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be open to listening to him, and, to be honest, he was kind of impressed with the lady’s guts.

“Well, I’m glad I got here in time. I’m afraid your door is quite scratched up, but at least Cleo and you are safe.”

“Quite safe, thank you!” the lady said, beaming up at Kakashi. “Oh, do you want cookies? I have cookies!” she said, and before Kakashi had time to decline she shuffled further into the house.

Kakashi waited by the door until she came back, a jar of cookies balanced on top of Cleo.

Kakashi tried to decline, but she wouldn’t hear it and stuffed a handful of cookies into his hands before sending him off. He walked back outside, chocolate melting against his palms. He would have thrown the cookies away, especially after seeing a dog hair on the top one, but he didn’t have the heart to do so in case the lady was watching from the window. With a quick look back he stuffed the handful into his pockets, lamenting how he’d have to be getting rid of all those crumbs later.

The streets were quiet this early in the morning. After making sure the gawkers were gone Kakashi took the chance to pull down his mask and breathe in deep, feeling the chilly night air filling his lungs, unfiltered for once.

A couple of minutes later a van came around a corner and double-parked, a couple of people looking like janitors in their dark-blue coveralls stepping out and greeting Kakashi. They were in for some dirty work, but they were used to it, and when they left the vampire remains would be gone and the blood washed off the pavement. The only reminder would be the scratches on the door. 

Kakashi told the head cleaner—a man he’d seen a few times before but didn’t remember the name of—where he’d found bodies so they could find them and bring them in, ensuring they didn’t have any new vampires on their hands tomorrow. Then he sauntered off, retracing his steps to the place the first body had been found, hoping he could find the vampire’s trace from there. It had to have a place it holed up during the day, and Kakashi wanted to look for it to see if there were more of them. Then he’d take care of any other vampires might be around and then head back to the headquarters to procrastinate filling out the paperwork there. He could always go back home to catch some sleep, should probably do so, but then he would have to go to his apartment, cold and barren and lonely, and he didn’t much feel like it. 

He’d much rather head to Iruka’s apartment. It was smaller than his, but there was life there in a way there weren’t in Kakashi’s, mostly because of Iruka. Kakashi’s apartment was a place to sleep and keep his belongings, Iruka’s was a home.

He cast a woeful glance down at his phone, noting the time. Almost five in the morning. Iruka would still be asleep, his alarm not going off until a little after six usually, and then he’d be heading for work, so there was no use. He knew Iruka wouldn’t have complained even if he did show up unannounced and woke him for some company, but he also wouldn’t do that to Iruka. Iruka had to deal with twenty or so five-year-olds all day, he deserved all the sleep in the world. Kakashi would rather hunt vampires than try to control a horde of kids.

Twenty minutes later Kakashi was making his way into an abandoned apartment building through the front door. It was hanging precariously off one hinge, lock long since kicked in. The hallway inside was a mess of graffiti, garbage and the smell of piss. Probably used by drug addicts and the homeless. And apparently vampires. Didn’t sound like the ideal living situation for either.

The first body had been found in a nearby alley, and the reports had said that they thought the vampire must’ve come from this building. Kakashi wasn’t surprised it would be hiding in a place like this. Plenty of easy access to a food supply that wouldn’t be missed, and lots of abandoned space to crawl into. 

There was a chance it had been a single vampire, but they couldn't afford not checking. This place would be the perfect breeding ground for a vampire nest after all.

With their fatal allergy to sunlight the demons would have to hide somewhere without windows, and in a building like this there was a clear contender as to where that would be. Tanto in hand he made his way down the hallway until he found the stairs leading downstairs towards the basement. He heard a sound as he walked past an apartment, and when he shoved the door open he saw the deeply set eyes of someone far gone on drugs. They didn’t even notice him, so he let the door swing shut again, and walked downstairs. The stairs were creaky, dirty to the point Kakashi couldn’t tell if they were wood or carpet, and each step creaked as if they were going to collapse any moment. Still, it held firm and soon he could look around the basement. 

A few naked bulbs hung from the ceiling, and Kakashi was surprised there was even that much. He would have thought they would have been long dead, but someone had taken the time to change them, lighting up the grimy walls and the dirty floors. There were more garbage down here, used syringes and food wrappers, and a mattress soggy with something Kakashi didn’t want to know what was, but it was eerily quiet as well, just the faint scratching of rats in the distance.

He had expected the hallway to stretch the length of the building like the one upstairs, but this was far shorter and ended in a door. Not so strange in itself, but even in the dim light of dirty bulbs, it was clear something was off. 

The rest of the building was derelict, dirty and falling to piece, but the door blocking the hallway was solid steel and looked brand new, only marred by a smear of red. Next to the door was a code lock, out of place in a building whose doors all features keyholes. 

Judging by the blood on the door this was clearly where the vampire had come from. Kakashi frowned, and stopped, trying to hear if anyone was down here, but all he could hear were scurrying rats and the sounds of the occupants in the upstairs rooms. 

With a firm grip on his blade, he decided to check the nearby rooms before heading to the steel door. The flimsy wooden doors of the hallway matched the rest of the apartment building perfectly, worn and near the end of their life. 

There were no apartments down here, just a couple of storage rooms that had long since been raided of anything useful, a technical room full of pipes and access to the hidden parts that had once made the apartment building a living space, as well as a laundry room where a lone washing machine still stood, door ajar, a single sock hanging out of it as if the last occupant had been in such a rush to leave that he hadn’t even thought to make sure all the clothes came with him. 

There were no traces of a vampire nest anywhere, nor a place where a vampire would have stayed at all. All signs led to the steel door, but it made no sense. The demon realm the vampires came from was as far as they could tell pretty primal, and vampires seemed to care about little other than blood and violence and pleasure. They didn’t build homes, they took them, so it seemed very unlikely that a nest of vampires would have installed a locked door to keep themselves safe behind, they weren’t much for technology.

Approaching the door he noted that the blood was fresh, and human judging by the scent. It could come from one of the people living upstairs, but it seemed more likely that the vampire had hurt someone and smeared the blood when they came through the door. 

The code lock seemed pretty standard, enter the not-so-magical PIN code and enter. Kakashi tilted up his eye patch and peered at the small screen. Through the red haze it was clear to see which numbers made out the code, 2, 5, 7 and 9 shoved traces of having been pressed multiple times, sweat and skin residue leaving shadows behind. 

He started with the numerical order, but the small light blinked red, so he tried another code. With only twenty-four possible combinations it didn’t take him long until the light blinked green, and with a small click the door opened. 

He kept his weapon at the ready as he opened the door, having no idea what to expect on the other side. 

The first thing he noticed was the smell. The cloying scent of freshly spilt blood was heavy in the air and under the stark light that was in clear contrast to the dim light from the earlier part of the hallway it was clear why. 

In the middle of the floor lay a body, sprawled on its back with its head twisted in an unnatural angle. The man had been wearing a white lab coat, but it was drenched in blood from where his neck had been torn open. Kakashi didn’t need to go any closer to know that a vampire had attacked him. 

There was nothing Kakashi could do for the man now other than making sure he didn’t rise again as a vampire, so he took a moment to look around. He was standing in the continuation of the hallway, but the change was drastic. Other than the blood the place was clean, well-lit, walls painted a sterile white and doors along the left-hand side all reinforced steel. Along the other side of the hallway lay doors with glass panels, and approaching the first he saw what looked like a medical lab. A steel table and surgical equipment. 

All in all, there were about ten doors along either side of the hallway, and it looked like something out of a hospital. But why would anyone build anything like this in the basement of a crack house? Something was seriously off. 

He walked across the hall to one of the heavy steel doors and put his ear against it. Beyond he heard soft shuffling noises, as if there was someone, or something inside, pacing slowly. 

For now, he let the door be and inspected the rest of the place. Three doors down he found another person in a lab coat lying halfway across a steel gurney. She was lying on her stomach, and he couldn’t see any wounds from this angle, but judging by the pool of blood underneath her she had suffered a similar fate as the one in the hallway. 

Something had gone wrong here, a vampire in an underground facility with locked doors. Medical equipment, but no clear patients. It was eerie. 

In the doorway, after ensuring that nothing lurked in the immediate area, he took up his phone to call for backup. This wasn’t a simple nest of vampires, this was something else entirely, so he went straight to Tsunade. 

Nothing. 

There were no phone signals, and Kakashi put the phone away again. Maybe not too surprising judging by the steel all around. Someone had been hiding something down here, so reinforcing to the point where phone signals couldn’t escape seemed a plausible explanation. 

He glanced back into the room, trying to see if there were anything that could tell him what had been going on. 

Steel countertops, vials of various liquids, scalpels, and in one corner a massive fridge stacked tall with… blood? 

He walked closer, making sure not to step in any of the blood on the ground. 

Stacked high in the fridge were bags upon bags of blood. He opened the door and grabbed one. 

The label on the front read AB Rh POSITIVE, and there were a few bar codes that no doubt contained the information about when the blood was drawn or the donor. There was also a stamp reading the name of the biggest city hospital. This was making even less sense, so he placed the bag back in the fridge and headed back in the hallway. He needed to call someone in. They’d have to go through the entire place and figure out what had been going on, and what was pacing around behind those reinforced doors. 

He had just turned back to the door he had come into the hallway from when he heard a sound behind him. He spun around, but couldn’t immediately see anyone at all in the hallway other than the body laying on the ground, still as dead as before. It would be hours until he could rise as a vampire anyway, so Kakashi wasn’t worried about him. 

“This is the DPA, show yourself!” Kakashi called out, hoping to draw whoever—or whatever—it was out of hiding. If it was a vampire they’d be drawn to his voice so he could deal with them, and if it was a human then maybe they’d have some answers for him. 

There was another sound, and then he saw a shadow move in the window of the room furthest from him. He took a step closer and was about to call again when he saw a flicker of orange inside it, and he knew what that meant. Something was burning, and if he didn’t want the evidence ruined he needed to stop it. He rushed over and looked in the window. An archive cabinet was toppled over, and flames were lapping at open drawers, devouring the paperwork inside. 

Kakashi was trying to think of where they would have hidden the fire extinguishers when he saw movement. A door swung close in the other end of the room, and Kakashi knew that meant that whoever had set the fire was there, and there was no way it was a vampire, so it had to be one of those behind the lab. He needed to find them before they got away from him. 

He rushed through the room, ignoring the fire and yanked open the door, barely noticing how it was locked before he’d already shattered the wood of the door jamb and pulled it free. 

Beyond the door was another hallway, and Kakashi suspected that it would lead to a back entrance, because why would someone build a full lab in a crack house and not have a back entrance hidden away?

Kakashi ran, and soon he saw the shadows of someone up ahead. The hallway was dark, so he couldn’t make out any more than the outline of them, but he’d catch them soon, and then he’d have his answers. 

Then suddenly the hallway wasn’t dark anymore, a warm light growing in front of him, flickering, growing brighter. A second or two later he saw a column of fire blocking off the hallway, and he skidded to a stop against the linoleum floors. The fire was intensifying as he watched, growing from orange to red to icy-hot blue and Kakashi knew he had to turn and run back, had to get out, but before he could even move the world exploded in an inferno of fire and heat and death. 

*** 

  
Iruka walked into the teacher’s lounge, smothering a yawn as he headed in the direction of the coffee maker. He’d slept poorly, so he needed caffeine it if he was to get through the day in one piece. 

Pouring himself a cup he headed over to one of the ratty couches that were scattered around the room, sinking into one. He let out a small sigh and rubbed at his forehead. He’d woken up early and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep, feeling off, and the lack of sleep was quickly manifesting itself as a throbbing headache. He squinted at the clock hanging on the wall and noted that he still had fifteen minutes until he had to be in his classroom to greet his students. Hopefully, the coffee would kick in before then. 

“The kids running you ragged?” a voice said to his right, and the couch dipped as someone sat next to him. Iruka looked over and saw one of the other teachers sitting next to him, cradling a coffee cup. Iruka couldn’t remember his name. He’d been introduced to everyone when he started, but there were a lot of teachers and even more kids, and all the names sort of bled together. He’d spent the first half of the year temping at various schools while getting settled for real in the city so there’d been a lot of new faces. He hoped that now that he had a full-time position he’d be able to get more of a routine and get to know people. Other than that he was finding it surprisingly easy to leave his old hometown behind. He’d even been able to move right into Naruto’s old apartment when his son moved in with Sasuke, so it had worked out perfectly.

“I like them a lot, but they can get a bit… wild,” Iruka admitted. He was used to teaching teenagers, which were their own sort of handful with their raging hormones, but at least they hadn’t used him as a climbing tree, nor did they randomly start crying (okay, sometimes they had, but that was mostly heartbreak, not the tantrums these five-year-olds could throw for the heck of it). It took some time to adjust to a different kind of teaching, but he liked the challenge, liked seeing them learn new stuff every day, the way their faces lit up when they finally understood something he was trying to teach them. There was a whole less apathy with the kids contra the teenagers, and he appreciated it.

“You get used to it, sort of. You learn to tune out the whining, and then one day you’ll find that they have grasped the concept of sitting down at their desks for an extended period of time.” The other teacher had his elbow on the back of the couch as he turned towards Iruka, clearly ready to get in a final chat with an adult before going to his class.

Iruka laughed. He’d had to herd kids back to their desks several times the last few days. Too much energy in their bodies for them to sit still for long.

“A couple of years ago I had this one kid. Peed his pants every Friday. No other day, only Fridays, like clockwork. Drove me nuts because I couldn’t figure out why. Parents acted all clueless, blamed me, because their precious kid never did anything like that at home ever, you know?” the other teacher said, and Iruka nodded. He had met plenty of parents who’d blame everyone but themselves and their precious kid.

“Anyways, then one day I was out in the schoolyard when the parents dropped him off, and the kid was drinking soda from this cup the size of his head. Big Gulp or whatever. I asked if he did that every day, and he said that his mom let him have one every Friday on the way to school as a treat. The kid drank this huge ass bucket of soda every Friday, and his parents still acted like they had no idea why he wet himself. So, I knew there was no point in talking to the parents because they would deny the entire thing. Instead, I started making sure the kid went to the toilet lots on Fridays, and voila, problem solved.”

“Are you serious? They gave their kid a Big Gulp every week?” Iruka asked, in shock. He didn’t want to know how much sugar would be in one of them, but he couldn’t fathom what kind of parent thought that was okay. He wouldn’t let Naruto have one of those when he was seventeen, he definitely wouldn’t have let an elementary school kid have one.

“Every single Friday,” the teacher confirmed. “They moved a year later, and I think the kid was twice as big as he had been when he started. And I’m not talking height.”

Iruka shook his head in resignation. Abuse was what it was, but what could they do in those cases? Bruises they could report to Child Protective Services, but this kind of abuse, disguised as kindness, was tougher.

“Anyways, I’m heading off now, I have to copy up some assignments before class,” the other teacher said as he drained the rest of his cup and pushed off. “It was nice to talk to you. Iruka, yeah?”

“Yeah, Iruka Umino. And I’m sorry, I think we’ve been introduced, but I’ve completely forgotten most of the names already.”

The other teacher grinned. “No worries, I know how it is. Just call me Mizuki.”

Mizuki waved, and then walked out, leaving Iruka to push off the couch and head towards the coffee machine. It tasted like shit, but he’d need a second cup to get through the day. 

He wasn’t sure why he’d slept so poorly tonight, but there was a ball of worry in his stomach as if something was wrong, but he had no idea what. He’d even shot off a message to Naruto when he woke in the middle of the night, but Naruto was at work and from the message doing fine. 

Iruka tried to shake the feeling off. Having a son who worked with the DPA it was no wonder he was worried at times. He’d almost lost him before, and Naruto seemed to have a knack for getting in trouble. Iruka was surprised he didn’t have more than the few strands of grey hair that had shown themselves near his ears. 

A while later, in the middle of the first period, Iruka felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was always on vibrate so as not to disturb, and although he should keep it in the desk or his bag during lessons he always kept it on him in case of emergency.

He ignored it, for now, Naruto should be home from work for a while already, and how much trouble could he really get up to in his spare time?

“That’s a beautiful drawing,” Iruka praised as he crouched down next to one of the shyer girls in the class. “Is it your family?”

She nodded as she coloured in the dress of what had to be her mother in a pretty coral tone. 

He didn’t have time to say anything else as his phone started vibrating for a second time, and the ball of worry crept into his stomach again. With a final encouragement, he stood up and went back to his desk, discreetly looking at the screen, hoping it was Naruto having completely forgotten that most people worked during the day, unlike him. 

It had in fact been Naruto calling, and as Iruka was looking at the phone a message ticked in. 

Iruka’s eyes widened as he read the message. There had been an accident at work, and Kakashi was hurt. What had happened and how it didn’t say, and Iruka had to sit down, worry flowing through him, icy cold. 

He wanted to run to wherever Kakashi was, wanted to make sure he was fine, that he was going to be fine, but he couldn’t. He had a classroom full of kids to take care of and couldn’t leave them alone. He’d only been working at the school a couple of weeks and he knew they wouldn’t like having to call in temps for him already. If it had been Naruto hurt that was one thing, no one would think it strange he needed to go to his son, but Kakashi wasn’t family, he was… Iruka didn’t know what he was, but he knew Kakashi was important to him and it pained him that he couldn’t be at his side now. 

He shot off a message to Naruto, demanding that he be kept informed, and somehow steeled himself, putting on a smile as he turned back to his class, hiding the way his hands were shaking.

***

  
Later Kakashi would never be able to explain how he made his way out of the blazing inferno, but after what felt like hours but couldn’t be more than a couple of minutes he stumbled out onto the street, collapsing to his knees. 

He heaved for breath and coughed hard. His lungs felt dry from the smoke, and it was hard breathing. His mask had burned right off his face, the remains hanging around his neck like so much useless material. His clothes had fared a little better, but they were singed and dirty and destined for the trash can. He was sure his hair had gotten a couple of inches shorter than it had been last night, and he had a couple of wicked burn marks, skin burned right off in patches. His leg ached where he’d stumbled open debris trying to make his way out. All in all, he felt astoundingly shitty.

As his coughing fit subsided he glanced behind himself and saw what remained of the building. It was still burning, flames tearing through the structure with immense strength, and part of it had collapsed already. Kakashi remembered the sounds of life on the upper floors as he had gone inside, and knew lives had been lost. They may have been drug addicts and squatters, but they had been people. 

As he was trying to gather himself enough to get to his feet he heard sirens approaching, and he not as much let himself fall back to the sidewalk as he collapsed. 

Which was how Gai Maito found him a short while later, lying on the sidewalk surrounded by fire trucks and police cars, waving off anyone who tried to help him and sending them in the direction of building to help anyone trapped there. 

Years ago, when Kakashi first joined the DPA, Gai and he had been partnered up. It had been an… experience to put it mildly, but even with how different they were they’d worked surprisingly well together. Then they’d both been promoted to unit leaders and now mostly saw each other in meetings, but Gai was one of the few people he didn’t mind finding him in this condition. 

Kakashi offered him a jaunty wave as Gai helped him sit up and assessed his damages. His enthusiasm for life hadn’t diminished much with the years, but he was serious right now, bushy eyebrows drawn together as he worked, making sure Kakashi wasn’t about to die. It was nice of him, really. 

“How typical of the eternal genius of the DPA, walking away from a collapsing building with not even a broken bone! This is the power of eternal youth!” Kakashi knew he was going to be fine when this was what Gai finally said.

Kakashi coughed out a burst of ragged laughter. At times he wondered if Gai and Lee were related, but he hadn’t found any evidence apart from the matching brows and the over-the-top personality. It was perhaps a good thing they weren’t in the same Unit. 

Sitting upright, arms resting on his knees Kakashi looked around at the people milling all around, a hand going up to his face, his left eye closing. Gai seemed to catch the motion, and moments later had made a trip to his car and fetched a bandana from it, shaking it out and offering it to Kakashi who tied it around his face with a grateful nod. He relaxed a little immediately. 

He had no idea what had happened earlier. He remembered chasing someone, and then the fire which had seemed to explode moments later. But what had ignited it and how he had no clue. Then there was the whole business with the lab as well. Something odd was going on. He dreaded the paperwork that would follow this. 

“Hey, Gai, drive me home, I think I’m gonna have to take the day off.”

  
Kakashi outright refused it when Gai tried to make him go to the hospital, but Kakashi convinced him to take him to Iruka’s apartment, claiming he’d feel much better there than in some hospital. Iruka would be at work by now, so Kakashi could crash on the couch until Iruka came home from work. He didn’t want the hospital, but he didn’t want to go back to his own apartment either. 

He kind of wished he could take a shower to get rid of the soot but also uncertain he would have been able to stand upright long enough. Gai offered to help him but Kakashi waved him off. He drank a bottle of water, and then coughed to the point of throwing it all up again, much to Gai’s worry. To make Gai feeling better Kakashi sat down on the toilet lid and let the other Unit leader tend to his burns. Kakashi collapsed onto the couch and sent Gai off before closing heavy eyes, bandaged arms lying on his chest. Exhausted from what had happened and from not sleeping in too long it didn’t take him long to fall into a deep slumber, waking only when darkness had settled over the city again. 

The first thing he noticed was that it felt like, well, it felt like he’d been dragged through a campfire. Repeatedly. Then stomped on a little for good measure. The next he noticed was that someone else was in the room. 

He turned his head, on the alert before he was fully awake, but relaxed when he saw a familiar face. Iruka was sitting next to the couch, on the floor, head tipped back against the wall. It looked uncomfortable, but he must have been tired because he was sleeping soundly. 

Kakashi had no idea when Iruka had come home, but he was glad he had gone here instead of his own apartment because he felt a little lighter waking up to Iruka being near. He wished he wouldn’t have fallen asleep on the floor like that though, it looked uncomfortable and couldn't be good for his back. Iruka should have gone to bed where he would have been comfortable.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to not think too much of Iruka in bed and Kakashi crawling in after him to lay close, and then realised he wasn’t wearing his eye patch, or his mask, having taken off the borrowed bandana before falling asleep. He cast a glance over at Iruka. He’d been sleeping when Iruka came in, so his eye would've been closed, and he didn’t think he slept with his mouth open, but he couldn’t be sure. 

Iruka was still here though, so that had to mean his secret was safe. 

Trying to contain the pained grunts that wanted to escape him as he took the bandana and tied it back around his face. He’d have to keep the eye closed, but that wasn’t a big deal, he’d done that plenty. He fell back against the couch on a heavy exhale. He thought he’d healed somewhat sleeping the day away, but he still felt awful. His lungs ached with every breath.

Iruka must’ve heard him moving, because the same moment his eyes blinked open, and he turned towards Kakashi. 

“You’re awake!” he exclaimed and got to his feet. Kakashi could see the wince as Iruka’s back cracked, but Iruka didn’t seem to care. “How are you feeling?”

“Peachy,” Kakashi said.

“You crawled your way out of a house collapsing because it was on fire, you are allowed to not feel fine, Kakashi,” Iruka said, placing a hand on Kakashi’s forehead, brushing his hair away from his face. 

“I feel sore and bruised, but I’m a fast healer.”

Iruka didn’t seem particularly impressed by that, and let out an almost imperceptible sigh. “I swear, everyone I know keeps almost dying, it’s not good for my health to go through this repeatedly.” 

“I’m sorry, Iruka.”

Iruka waved him off. “Do you need anything? Food, drink, bathroom?”

Kakashi was about to tell him that he was fine, that Iruka should go to bed and not worry about him, but the fact was that he did need to go to the bathroom, and he thought there was a definite possibility he’d collapse on the floor if he tried so himself. 

Iruka looked at him with warmth in his eyes, like he wanted to be here and help Kakashi, not just doing it for some benevolent reason. 

“Yes, I could use some help.”

Iruka smiled at him, and Kakashi felt a little lighter.


	2. Chapter 2

  
Kakashi spent the next day at home, mostly sleeping, and as evening drew close he crawled out of bed and showered before getting dressed, ready for work. Iruka had spent the night with him but had to leave for work in the morning. He’d wanted to come by after work, but Kakashi had insisted he just needed sleep. Mostly it was an excuse because he was certain that if Iruka was here he would have refused Kakashi to leave the apartment at all. 

Last night his body had been a whole myriad of pain, deep burns on his arms and angry purple bruises, but the hours since had faded the bruises into yellow, and when he peeled off the bandages covering his arms the skin underneath was fresh pink and just a little sore to the touch. Still a little worse for wear, but nothing that he couldn’t deal with. Some light pain and a smattering of aches he could ignore, and he didn’t even want to think about the paperwork he’d have to go through if he stayed at home another night.

When he made his way to work he wasn’t thinking about the fire or the way the flames had washed over him, no, he was thinking about waking up to finding Iruka there, having Iruka take care of him. Getting a home-cooked meal before Iruka had to leave. The warmth and worry in Iruka’s eyes as he had tried to look away from the bandages and the bruises that littered what of Kakashi’s skin was on display. 

Kakashi was still in awe that someone like Iruka, kind and patient and good, bothered with him at all. There was so much Kakashi kept from him, but Iruka didn’t seem to care. Never questioned the mask and eye patch, never tried to get him to tell more than he was comfortable with. Iruka truly was the perfect man, and that just made everything harder, because how could someone like that ever accept someone like Kakashi? 

He shook off those thoughts and just let the picture of Iruka’s smile warm him as he made his way across the empty bullpen, quiet as none of the agents Kakashi oversaw had started their day yet. He shook his head as he walked past Naruto’s desk. It was a pigsty, as usual. He was sure he had seen that very same ramen cup standing half-way behind the monitor two days ago as well, and he was fairly certain he did not want to see what was growing in it by now. 

For a moment he paused outside his office, dreading what was expecting him inside. Not only had last night banged him up, but a night and a day outside the office meant that what paperwork had been there when he left had multiplied since then. Like rabbits, they seemed to breed exponentially fast, and Kakashi hadn’t seen his desk devoid of manila folders since he had first taken over the office a few years back. Reports he had to go through, some mundane, some detailing cases that had importance for their works and would have to be sent on to other departments of the DPA. Budgets to balance, routines to go over. Figuring out which agents were overdue a health check, and then later fight with said agents to get him or her to attend said health check. It was an endless circle that was only bearable because Kakashi knew, in the end, it was important. His job was to ensure his agents performed to the best of their abilities, but even more that they kept safe. 

He winced as he saw a stack of folders, a post-it on top. 

He pulled off the yellow note and saw a smiley. No signature or note, and Kakashi didn’t know which of his agents had placed it there, but it still made him smile behind his mask, and he tacked the note to the bottom of his computer screen as he fired it up, preparing for a long night at work.

It took him about five minutes of staring at the mass of e-mails in his inbox before he gave up. He sent out assignments for his agents in case they showed up before he was back, and then he left, too antsy to sit still. 

  
A short while later Kakashi stopped his car near the remains of what had been a building only yesterday. Now it was but a ruin. The fire had devoured a good chunk of it, and what remained looked like little other than a shell. Most of the windows were blown out from the heat, and the building on one side had angry black scorch marks licking up its bricks. There were still pools of water on the ground from where the fire department had done their job to stop the fire before it spread. 

Kakashi was still not entirely sure what had happened yesterday, but hopefully, they’d have some answers soon. The DPA would have a team assigned, but considering the damage the fire would have done there was no telling what they would be able to find down in the basement. Kakashi foresaw lots of questioning by the team assigned in his future considering he was the one person to have seen the lab. 

Police tape blocked off the area around the building, and inside the tape Kakashi could see a lone man coming around the corner of the building, staring up at the building with his head tilted back as he walked. Kakashi headed over, recognising the long black coat and that skullcap.

The man heard him and turned around, revealing a harsh face dissected with deep scars. Not too uncommon in their line of work. 

“Ibiki,” Kakashi said as a way of greeting, and Ibiki nodded at him before turning back towards the building. The firetrucks and ambulances of last night were gone, leaving only the DPA left to do their work, which meant they would have already called off the search for any more survivors.

“What’s the status?”

Ibiki kept looking at the building, hands in his pockets. “We’ve been trying to get our way into the basement, to investigate the source of the fire, but the roof seems to have collapsed completely down there. We’re probably going to have to get diggers here to remove all of the rubble, and that is gonna take a long while. I have a few agents inside with scanners, trying to see if they find someone or something alive in there. Heat signatures show that there might be, but nothing is conclusive yet.” 

Kakashi didn’t answer, just looked over the building, remembering the steel doors and the sounds beyond them. At the time he hadn’t been able to decipher what it might be, but judging what he had found down there he was fairly certain it wouldn’t be good. 

“The doors were heavily reinforced, the rooms beyond might have been as well, so there’s a possibility that it might have withstood the fire,” he mused out loud. “There was a lab of sorts, it seemed like they’d been experimenting on vampires and then one of them got loose.”

Ibiki huffed. “That wouldn’t have ended well. But why the fire?”

“There was someone down there, still alive. I followed them and then there was a flash of fire. It’s all a little chaotic after that.”

“You’ll send in a report later, and then I’ll find you for follow up questions. Something is going on here. We were called in because you were involved, but our initial readings showed magical interference lighting up the entire perimeter.”

Magical interference? Considering the work that had been done in the lab it wasn’t too strange that there was some magic involved. Someone who experimented on vampires was liable to use magic in their work. Could the fire be magical in origin as well? It had come so suddenly he wasn’t sure what else could have triggered it.

“You think magic started the fire?”

“We can’t know for sure, but it’s a possibility. Might just be traces of something else entirely. The fire could be a gas explosion as well.”

Ibiki was right. Kakashi had been down there and he couldn’t even tell what had happened. A firebomb, or a magical spell? It could be failsafe to hide the lab. A bomb of sorts that triggered when they were exposed to wipe out the evidence. Wouldn’t be too hard to make with or without magic. 

Kakashi thought back to the person he had been chasing. They had to be the one to set it off. Perhaps they didn’t even have anything to do with the lab at all. Magical powers could be volatile, tied to the elemental forces of the world, and an untrained witch could cause all kinds of problems unwillingly, so it could have all been an accident. A runaway witch trying to find somewhere to hide, their powers running away from them causing the magic to lash out when Kakashi chased them. 

Kakashi should know how devastating powers could be, had seen that first hand almost twenty years ago, knew the destruction magic could leave behind. 

He shook his head, not willing to fall down that mental pathway. He had to stay clearheaded. 

“Keep me updated if you get down there?” Kakashi asked, and Ibiki nodded in confirmation.

Leaving the other agent Kakashi walked closer to the building. He could hear voices from agents making their way through the rubble, but tuned them out and closed his eyes, pulling his mask down from his nose and drew a deep breath. The evening was full of scents, and it was hard to make out the singular ones beneath exhaust and garbage and the acrid scent of the burned down building.

Kakashi had long since figured out that scent could be a powerful sense that humans often overlooked, being so dependant on eyesight, and now, with his eyes closed, he could make out a vague hint of something otherly hidden underneath dozens of other scents. It might not mean anything, it was hard to tell what kind of scents a building like this might house, but Kakashi wouldn’t be surprised if it was the faint trace of magic lingering in the air.

Ibiki would figure out if it was truly magic, and then hopefully they would find answers to what exactly had happened. If it was a witch out of control they needed to be stopped before they hurt more people, and if it was a magical bomb then they needed to find those behind. Either way, there was little else for Kakashi to do now, he would have to let others carry on from here. 

He turned away, surveying the area around the building. If he could find some surveillance camera overlooking the building they might see who had entered and left, but it was pretty clear that they were in the wrong neighbourhood for cameras. They might need them, there was plenty of crime around here, but no one would be able to afford them, and if they’d put them up they would have likely been vandalised within a couple of days anyway.

Kakashi sighed. He guessed there was nothing he could do but wait for Ibiki to get back at him when they had finished their investigations. In the meanwhile, he had paperwork to attend to, and he was clean out of excuses. 

***

  
The following morning, after a long night spent in the office, Kakashi made his way outside into the sunlight, blinking at the brightness. It was Sunday, and even though they were officially into fall it was hot outside, and he kind of regretted the long-sleeved shirt. 

It had been a quiet night for the most parts, a few leads that didn’t lead to anything serious. Neji had taken out a vampire, but it had been a quick disposal without trouble. Kakashi had even gotten Naruto to dispose of the science experiment that was brewing on his desk, so all in all a good night. 

He stretched his back as he walked to the car, feeling muscles and bones still ache a little. Nothing he couldn’t ignore. He quelled a yawn as he opened the car door. Before getting into the car he hesitated, looking over his shoulder.

He was parked on a small lot next to the headquarters, fenced off from the street with a plain chain link fence. It was too early for most people to be out, so apart from a couple walking hand in hand on the other side of the street, it was quiet. He shook off a sudden feeling of unease and got into the car, making his way home where a change of clothes and a scalding hot shower waited for him. 

As usual in the weekend there were no free parking spots near his building, so Kakashi had to drive a couple of blocks off before finding one to leave his car in, and as he walked home he pulled his mask away from his face for a moment to get some air on his skin. 

He should probably get some sleep, but clean and dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans he left this apartment an hour later, glad to get out. It felt a little sad with just him there. 

There were more people outside now than it had been when he left work, on their way to work, or heading out for the day, and Kakashi would usually just ignore them all, but something felt off. He’d noticed the moment he stepped out on the street but had shaken it off, it was the same feeling that had come over him when he made his way into the car at work.

As he rounded a corner and the feeling was still there he started to get uneasy. He felt watched, the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. He wasn’t one to be paranoid and had long since figured out that it was usually a good thing to follow your gut instinct. It had saved his life out in the field several times.

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and crouched down, pretending to tie his shoelace, glancing behind himself, but he didn’t see anyone directly behind him, just a couple of college-aged girls rounding the corner, talking amongst themselves.

Kakashi kept walking, throwing glances into the passing windows in an attempt to see if anyone were following him, but he saw no one. The feeling persisted though, the phantom touch of someone’s eyes on your back, following your every move, and Kakashi didn’t like it one bit.

He hurried around another corner and immediately ducked inside an alley, back pressed against the brick wall, looking out at the street, almost expecting to see some stalker pass the mouth of the alley, but nothing happened, and after a couple of minutes he gave up, pushed away and headed back into the street. The feeling hadn’t stopped even in the alley, so it had to be his imagination. Too many nights of not enough sleep was probably taking a toll on his head. Or maybe he needed to talk to Tsunade about a health check-up, it had been a long time since he’d last gone. He was a lot better at ensuring that his agents went than doing so himself.

He ignored the lingering feeling of being watched and headed for his car, sliding into the driver’s seat and slamming the door shut, immediately shoving the keys into the ignition and turning onto the street.

It wasn’t a long drive, on a good day he could’ve probably walked, but with the heat outside it would have left him drenched with sweat before he got even close to Iruka’s building.

Somewhere along the drive he forgot about the feeling of eyes on him, and when he could park and head over to the entrance door of Iruka’s building he realised that it was gone. He let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief and walked inside, the lock on the main entrance busted.

He wasn’t easily spooked, but working in the DPA meant he knew about all the things that lurked in the dark, vampires and werewolves and ghouls, and worse things, things most people would believe myth and fables. He liked to follow his instinct, knew there was probably a good chance he felt watched, but there was only so much to do. It might just have been some lingering spirit momentarily locking on him, and as long as it was gone again he didn’t think it was anything to worry about.

He took the stairs quickly, soon knocking on Iruka’s door.

He was going to complain about the busted lock downstairs again, and Iruka was going to tell him that he knew and that he had talked to the building manager, but this building wasn’t exactly on the top of anyone's list. Kakashi didn’t like it, would have preferred Iruka somewhere safer, but Iruka would just scoff at his worries.

I’m just a teacher, Kakashi, not like anyone is going after me in particular.

Which might be true, but the city was filled with dark creatures, and you never knew what could happen.

Maybe Kakashi would just have to take charge, send a locksmith to fix up the lock. Wasn’t like he’d have to even tell Iruka about it.

The door swung open, revealing the smiling face of Iruka. Kakashi felt the worry that was constantly lodged in his chest ease off a little when he saw that smile, and as Iruka let him inside, their shoulders brushing just barely Kakashi could feel himself relaxing in a way he didn’t seem to could any other place.

  
Kakashi stretched out his back, feeling his spine crack into place, and then he let himself sink onto the couch. He was glad Iruka had bought a new one because the ancient one Naruto had used to own had been awful. This one was perfectly balanced between soft and firm, and it certainly was appreciated for movie nights.

Kakashi looked around the room, noted the green plant placed atop a bookcase. He didn’t think it had been there the last time he was here. Iruka was slowly making this place more and more his. It was warm and comfortable, much like Iruka himself. All muted colours and soft fabrics and sturdy furniture.

“What do you want to drink?” Iruka asked from the kitchen.

“Just water, please.” 

Usually, Kakashi would have still been in the office even though his work night was officially over, or he would have gone home to catch some sleep before heading into work early, but after getting to know Iruka he had found himself spending less time in the office outside his work hours. Iruka had sent him a message last night after Naruto no doubt had tattled and told him that Kakashi was back at work already, and had insinuated that he did not think it was a good idea that Kakashi wasn’t still resting, and somehow it had ended with Iruka inviting Kakashi over the following day, and Kakashi never said no to spending time with the other if he could help it. Iruka had the day off because it was weekend, and Kakashi didn’t technically work the following evening, so they had plenty of time together. Besides, if there was an emergency at work it didn’t take any longer to get there from where Iruka lived than where Kakashi lived after all. 

Iruka soon headed towards him and placed a glass of water on the table in front of him, next to a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. A big step up from the cereal Kakashi was likely to have for breakfast. He didn’t think he had milk that wasn’t gone chunky so he’d probably had to eat it dry as well.

Iruka sat down next to him, legs crossed on the couch and a cup of coffee in his hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked, and Kakashi could feel Iruka’s eyes trace down his arms, and he followed his gaze himself.

The evidence of what had happened was still evident along them, yellow bruises and fading cuts and scrapes. it looked a lot better than it had when he crawled his way out, but he still looked banged up. 

“I’m fine. I’m a fast healer.”

“I can tell. They look so much better than yesterday.” 

Kakashi almost shuddered when Iruka traced a light finger up his arm, following the outline of one particularly bad bruise that was still not completely yellow. 

“I’m glad you weren’t more hurt, I was so worried when I heard what happened.” Iruka seemed to realise what he was doing and pulled his hand away again. Kakashi instantly missed the touch. 

“I’m glad too, I don’t like you worried.”

Iruka smiled softly at him then. “I’m glad we agree. Eat your breakfast now.”

Iruka turned towards the TV and turned it on, preoccupying himself finding a movie for them to watch as Kakashi pulled down the mask and ate every single piece of food, maybe even moaning a little, he wasn’t sure. He tended to forget eating proper meals during his work nights, occasionally scavenging for protein bars in the vending machine.

It would be easier if he didn’t feel like he had to wear the mask, but it was difficult. He trusted Iruka completely, but he had worn the mask for years, he felt naked and exposed without it, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to tell Iruka just why he was wearing it, afraid of the repercussions. He didn’t want to scare him away. So, for now, he devoured his food instead of savouring it, Iruka not even questioning it.

The couch dipped a little when Iruka shifted back against the back of the couch when Kakashi pulled his mask back up. Kakashi wasn’t sure what movie Iruka had put on, didn’t care. He never came because of the movies, just relished the opportunity to be with Iruka, even if it was just to sit in silence and watch a movie.

Although it happened often that they forgot all about the movie, talking for hours instead. Iruka was always intrigued to learn more about Kakashi’s work, and Kakashi loved how animated Iruka got when he talked about his, the adoration on his face as he told of what the little tykes he was in charge of had been up to. It was so clear on Iruka’s face that he cared about every single one of them, wanted what was best for them.

For a while they sat in silence, watching the movie, some dark drama Kakashi was only half paying attention to. He was just as tuned in to Iruka, casting small glances towards him. His hair was in its usual ponytail, but he hadn’t seemed to bother too much with how it looked, and a lot of it was starting to escape the elastic, soft tendrils falling around Iruka’s face that Kakashi longed to lean in and push behind Iruka’s ears.

Iruka shifted on the couch, tucking his legs underneath him, and it made him sit closer to Kakashi, where there wasn’t much space between them at all to begin with. All Kakashi would have to do was to stretch an arm out and he could pull Iruka close to him, tuck him against his side. He’d fit perfectly, Kakashi was sure of it.

Kakashi shook his head, trying to focus on anything else, but it was hard. He had long since stopped denying that he had feelings for Iruka, he just wasn’t ready to act on them yet.

Iruka stretched out for his water glass, and Kakashi noticed something he hadn’t seen before, a brightly coloured band-aid wrapped around Iruka’s finger. He caught the hand, pulling it closer to him so he could inspect the small ladybugs that decorated the band-aid.

Iruka grinned sheepishly up at him. “I bought a stack of different ones to bring to school, but I forgot to stock up on actual regular band-aids.”

Somehow the colourful one seemed to fit Iruka better.

“What happened?” Kakashi asked as he turned Iruka’s hand over, seeing more ladybugs on the other side as well. His thumb brushed over the soft skin of Iruka’s palm, and a part of him realised that this was probably weird, that friends didn’t touch other friends’ hands like this, but Iruka’s hand was soft and warm against his, and he let out the softest of breaths as Kakashi’s fingers stroked the skin up a finger, just beneath the band-aid.

“Sharpened my knife before making dinner last night, bad idea,” Iruka said, voice quiet as if he didn’t want to disturb the moment.

Kakashi could blame days of too little sleep for what he did next, or just Iruka’s presence, making him forget himself as he slid their palms together, fingers fitting between each other, curling together, a perfect fit.

It had been years since he last held someone’s hand, not before…

Iruka tightened his fingers around Kakashi’s hand as if he sensed that Kakashi was about to pull back and wanted to stop him. Kakashi lifted his gaze from their linked hands and met Iruka’s warm eyes, looking right at him, seemingly not afraid or regretful at all. He squeezed his hand around Kakashi’s again.

“Iruka…” Kakashi started, having no idea what he wanted to tell him. Everything. Nothing. He wanted to stay, wanted to leave, didn’t know.

“Kakashi,” Iruka continued, but there was no waver on his voice, he sounded perfectly calm as if this wasn’t affecting him at all.

It was silly wasn’t it, to be this affected simply by holding someone else’s hand? Kakashi knew that, but Iruka was different, and this was the closest anyone had come to him in years. Iruka saw right past the shields Kakashi put up and he was patient, not getting angry when Kakashi insisted on keeping secrets from him. Iruka was much too good for him, he knew that, but he still wanted Iruka, wanted him with every fibre of his being, his body thrumming just from the simple touch of palm against palm.

Then Iruka’s other hand lifted, and gently cradled the side of Kakashi’s face, warm even through the fabric of the mask, and as he leaned closer there was no denying what was going to happen, and Kakashi found himself stiffening.

“What’s wrong?” Iruka whispered, face a scant few inches away from his, eyes big so close.

“Nothing,” Kakashi found himself saying. Nothing was wrong, he was just afraid of losing something precious to him, losing it just because of who he was.

Iruka seemed to find that answer good enough because then he was leaning in again, and then his lips pressed against Kakashi’s. Kakashi shuddered, a ragged breath escaping when he parted his lips as Iruka kissed him firmly before pulling back. Through the mask it had been dry, and Kakashi hadn’t been able to feel just how soft Iruka’s lips were, or how he tasted, but he’d felt the warmth of him, and he desperately wanted more, but couldn’t, he couldn’t, and it hurt, and…

He surged forward, wrapped his arms around Iruka’s shoulders and pulled him close. Kakashi’s face was buried in Iruka’s neck, and even through the mask the scent of the other man was strong and vibrant, and Kakashi found himself pushing down the mask, his lips pressing against Iruka’s warm skin, tasting him, touching him. Iruka’s pulse beat strongly against his lips, and Kakashi dragged himself back, mask going back up his face, the taste of Iruka’s skin still lingering on his lips, and he wished he could have more.

He desperately wanted to tell Iruka everything, to throw caution to the wind and share every single dark secret he had, but the words clogged in his throat, and he was left just staring at Iruka, at the blush that tinted his cheeks, the way his lips were a little parted, his breath a little heavier than it had been. Gorgeous. Iruka was breathtakingly gorgeous, and Kakashi wanted to give him everything.

Moments passed as they looked at each other, tension heavy, a band pulling tighter, threatening to snap.

In the end, it was Iruka that broke the tension, not with a snap of a broken band, but an easing. “I’m just going to put it out there, Kakashi, it doesn’t have to change anything, but I want you to know. I like you, a lot. I care about you as a friend, but I’m not gonna lie and not say I want more. I’m attracted to you,” Iruka said, the words coming easily, and Kakashi was left speechless.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought the thought before. He sometimes caught Iruka watching him when he thought Kakashi wasn’t paying attention, he had dared hoped maybe Iruka wanted more, but he hadn’t thought he would just state it outright like that.

“I know there’s something you won’t tell me, the reason you wear that mask, and the eye patch, the reason you are afraid to let anyone close. I just want you to know that it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me until you are ready, even if you are never ready, but know that I don’t think there’s anything about you that I won’t be able to tolerate. I know you are a good man, Kakashi, I see how protective you are of your unit, I noticed in the way you made sure I was fine when Naruto was gone. I know those movie dates weren’t all about watching movies but maybe just as much making sure I was still holding it together. I don’t think I would have pulled through those weeks without you. You mean a lot to me, Kakashi, and if or when you do want to tell me I will be here for you.”

Iruka’s hand had found his again, their fingers interlocking, and Kakashi questioned what he had done to deserve to have a man like Iruka in his life, a man so good through and through, patient and kind and caring.

“I want to tell you, just…” Kakashi started.

“When you are ready,” Iruka said with a firm voice and Kakashi nodded. He hesitated a moment then shifted on the couch, turning back against the TV, but this time he did pull his arm around Iruka’s shoulder, tucking him close to his body. Iruka melted into him like there were nowhere else he wanted to be.

Kakashi turned his head enough to press his face against Iruka’s hair, whispering a soft, “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a massive project going on at work which has been using up all my creative energy, so this took a bit longer than planned, but I hope you all enjoyed~


	3. Chapter 3

It was Tuesday afternoon, Iruka was done with his work for the day, and Unit Seven was off rotation for the night, so Naruto had invited Iruka over for dinner, which he’d accepted happily. He loved how much easier it was to spend time together when they lived in the same city, liked that he could just pop over for dinner like this. Especially when Naruto had promised that Sasuke had done all the cooking. Iruka had seen some of the things Naruto had tried to make in the kitchen through the years. It was seldom edible, sometimes not even identifiable. The only exception was ramen because if it was one thing Naruto had perfected it was ramen. 

Iruka rang the doorbell, and Naruto yanked the door open seconds later as if he had been hovering right by it, just waiting for Iruka to arrive. He probably had, knowing Naruto.

Iruka soon found his arms full of Naruto as his son launched himself at him, and there was little he could do but brace himself and hope Naruto didn’t drag the both of them down. This had been a lot easier when Naruto was a scrawny teenager, but he’d put on a lot of muscles since then, and he might even have just barely passed Iruka in height.

Iruka tried to keep in shape, but even without his supernatural powers Naruto could have beat him easily, he was sure of it. Iruka usually stuck to jogging, never one for heavy weights, so he’d maintained a lean body, just happy to have kept the dad bod at bay, no stomach sticking out over the edge of his jeans. He’d leave the rock-hard abs for other people. 

Luckily Naruto dropped back to his feet before Iruka had to give in and collapse to the ground, and soon he found himself dragged through the apartment, in the direction of the kitchen where Sasuke was standing in front of the stove. The place smelled great, rich with spices. 

Sasuke peered over his shoulder as he heard them enter the room. “Hello. I hope you like Indian food?” 

“Of course he does, we had Indian all the time!” Naruto interjected. 

“Indian sounds great,” Iruka answered Sasuke, ignoring Naruto completely, and Sasuke nodded at him before turning back to the stove. 

Naruto all but manhandled Iruka into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Judging by the napkins Naruto had been in charge of decorations because they were a lurid orange, and Iruka thought Naruto had tried to fold them into something, but given up because they were a little wrinkly where they laid tossed on top of each of the four plates.

“Someone else is coming?” Iruka asked as Naruto dumped into the chair opposite his.

“Yeah, Kakashi!” Naruto grinned happily as he poured Iruka a glass of water. “He should be here soon I think.”

As if on a cue the doorbell rang only seconds later, and Naruto stopped mid pour, slammed the bottle back on the table and took off. 

“Naruto seems… excited,” Iruka noted, and Sasuke just chuckled, turning away from the food. 

“He’s been looking forward to it all day. He was spinning circles around the living room earlier. Sometimes I think he’s more puppy than man.”

“I’ve wondered myself at times,” Iruka said. Naruto could be energetic, but there was never anything negative about it, so it was hard to be too annoyed. He just had too much energy to burn, was too excited, and Iruka had to admit he was kind of glad to see it. Naruto hadn’t shown nearly this much of that side of him when he had first met him, withdrawn from years in foster homes, but as soon as he had felt safe around Iruka, when he had realised that he finally had his forever home, he had loosened up considerably. Iruka wondered what Naruto would have been like as a toddler, probably climbing all over the furniture, putting everything he could find into his mouth. He still did both a little too often for a guy in his mid-twenties. 

It didn’t take long before Naruto came back. He had foregone dragging Kakashi by the arm, but he was quick to pull out the chair next to Iruka’s and all but manhandle Kakashi into it. Kakashi seemed mostly amused by it and let himself fall onto the seat with an audible thump. Iruka smiled at them, glad to see Kakashi again. They hadn’t seen each other since Kakashi had been over the other day, where Iruka confessed and then kissed him. For some things might be awkward, but he was only happy to see Kakashi here. Things were comfortable between them, somewhere between friends and more, and for now it was enough.

Naruto, clearly happy with the job of escorting Kakashi, flitted over to Sasuke, threw his arms around his neck and planted a loud smooch on his ear, laughing when Sasuke swatted him away. 

Iruka loved seeing Naruto so genuinely happy and in love. It was everything he had ever wanted for his son. A good life and someone who loved him for what and who he was. 

He turned away, casting a glance at Kakashi, and saw that Kakashi was looking right at him. 

“You are really happy for them aren’t you?” Kakashi asked, voice soft enough that only Iruka could hear.

Iruka nodded. “I am. They seem to be good for each other. I’ve never seen Naruto happy like this before.”

Kakashi looked towards the couple. Naruto had jumped up to sit on the countertop next to the stove, and Sasuke was feeding him sauce. Naruto had a big grin on his face, and Sasuke smiled softly up at him. 

“I think they are, yes. Sasuke was spiralling into a bad place before he met Naruto, I think Naruto was everything he needed to get some normalcy into his life.”

Iruka could hear a tone of sadness in Kakashi’s voice, and Iruka knew he most likely blamed himself for not having been able to help Sasuke more before. He reached over, and placed his hand over Kakashi’s, squeezing lightly. 

“You did what you could. And he’s doing well now.”

Kakashi didn’t say anything, but he turned his hand over so their palms met, and squeezed back lightly, their hands staying connected underneath the surface of the table, fingers twisting together. 

It didn’t take long before the food was done and Naruto eagerly placed rice and naan bread and the lamb on the table. It smelled divine, and it almost made up for the fact that Kakashi’s hand let go of his so they could eat. 

No one talked much as they ate, which was probably a testament to how tasty the food was. Even Naruto was quiet for the most part, only talking with his mouth full a few times. Iruka was impressed. 

Glancing up from his food Iruka caught Sasuke’s dark eyes, saw how his, well, son-in-law, looking between Iruka and Kakashi, and there was knowing in that gaze. Iruka swallowed the rice in his mouth and steadfastly did not blush or acknowledge it in any way. Sasuke just gave him a soft smile, clearly not having anything against Kakashi and Iruka becoming closer. Iruka promptly stuffed a piece of lamb into his mouth. At least Naruto didn’t seem to have any clue, because Iruka was pretty sure Naruto would be ecstatic to the point of too much. For now, Iruka was glad Kakashi and him could do things at their own speed.

  
***

Kakashi shoved the last of the naan bread into his mouth underneath the mask, letting it snap back into place. When he looked up he caught Naruto’s gaze, and as Kakashi lifted his visible eyebrow as to question him Naruto quickly looked away, feigning innocence, as if he not at all had been trying to catch a look at Kakashi’s face underneath the mask. Busted. 

Kakashi grinned behind his mask as he leaned back in his chair. He’d eaten a little too much food. It’d been tasty enough that it’d been impossible not to. Kakashi had eaten his fair share of takeout Indian food. With his lifestyle there’d never been much time for cooking, so he was a regular at most of the restaurants in the vicinity of the DPA headquarters or his home, but he didn’t think that quite compared to the dinner today. Which might be rude to the Indian restaurants, but then again, he didn’t think those that ran the nearest one were Indian at all. 

When all of them finished Naruto sprang up from his chair and started collecting the plates. “Iruka and I’ll do the dishes, you guys can go into the living room.”

Iruka didn’t even protest, just picked up the rest of the bowls from the table and carried them over to the sink. 

Kakashi was about to volunteer to help, but Sasuke just shook his head and motioned into the living room. 

“There’s no need arguing with Naruto when he’s decided something,” he said in explanation. “I should know.”

Kakashi pushed away from the dining chair and followed after Sasuke into the living room, settling down on the couch. Sasuke took the armchair next to him. 

“I think you can trust Iruka,” Sasuke said, and Kakashi’s head snapped towards him, surprised by the words.

“I do trust him,” he answered, almost automatically, because he did. Why would he not, Iruka was good and kind and genuine.

Sasuke looked at him as if he was considering what to say or how to phrase it. 

“I’m not sure how much Iruka has told you about Naruto’s past?” He paused for a moment as if to decide if he should tell Kakashi or not, but in the end seemed to decide that it was for Kakashi to hear. 

“Everyone in their town saw Naruto as a monster, just holding their breaths as they waited for him to snap and lash out. He was ostracised and alone, sent from foster home to foster home, no one wanting him around. Then Iruka saw him. Iruka knew what he was, knew what people said about Naruto, but he didn’t care about them, didn’t see the supposed monster. All he saw was a hurting boy, alone and sad. He didn’t care that people would shun him as well, he took Naruto in, gave him a home, showed him that he was worthy of love. Iruka wasn’t scared by the fact that he knew nothing about shifters, because he didn’t see Naruto as a shifter, he saw him as Naruto.”

Kakashi just gaped at Sasuke, glad the mask would hide the shocked look he no doubt had on his face. Sasuke had never been one for talking, and now he was passionate in the way he talked about his father-in-law, leaning forward in the chair as if he needed to make sure Kakashi heard everything, realised how important it was. 

“Iruka is good with people,” Sasuke continued. “He’s not scared by what’s different, he can see past all the crap to the person underneath. Without Iruka I think there’s a great chance Naruto wouldn’t be here today, and he definitely wouldn’t be the man he is. He would’ve been completely beaten down by society, a shell of the man he was always supposed to be.”

There were more unsaid behind those words, admiration for Iruka, and love for Naruto, and encouragement for Kakashi to stop being afraid. It was clear that Sasuke knew that there was something between Kakashi and Iruka, and Kakashi wasn’t even surprised. They’d danced around each other for months, someone was bound to catch on. 

The thing was, intellectually Kakashi knew all these things. He knew that Iruka was good, through and through, and that he wouldn’t judge someone. If there was anyone that would accept Kakashi it would be Iruka. 

That didn’t mean Kakashi wasn’t scared. He’d been hiding his true self from everyone for two decades, it was hard to change ways he had become so set in. There were few people left who knew Kakashi’s secret, and of all those people only Tsunade had ever seen past what he was and given him a chance. Everyone else had been terrified of him, counting his aunt and uncle, whom he hadn’t seen since he was nineteen when they saw him leave for school. There had been no tears in their eyes when they saw the nephew they’d raised for years leave, only pure relief that he would be gone.

Still, he might have been able to ignore all that, would have moved on, but the harsh truth was simple. He didn’t accept it himself. Couldn’t see past what he was. He looked in the mirror and was reminded of what had happened back then the day his life fell apart, and he blamed himself for it, for what had happened to himself, and to…

He clenched his eyes shut, didn’t want to think about that night, couldn’t allow himself to sink into the bad memories, because then he would be stuck there in the past. 

It was hard to believe that anyone could accept him when he couldn’t even accept himself.

He was glad that Naruto and Iruka chose that moment to come into the room, meaning he didn’t have to say anything to Sasuke, didn’t need to try and explain himself. He knew he was a pussy for not just telling Iruka and letting the man have the opportunity to choose for himself what to think, but it was easier to live in limbo, in a world where there was always the opportunity for happiness, rather than seeing everything fall apart in front of him. 

He could almost feel Sasuke’s eyes on him, and he was afraid to see the |disappointment in them, as if Sasuke knew exactly what he was thinking, so he resolutely looked the other way. Iruka had sat down on the couch next to Kakashi, not quite close enough to touch, but close enough that it would have been easy to take Iruka’s hand in his. 

Kakashi looked at Iruka, and Iruka seemed to notice, turning towards him and smiling softly. Tendrils of hair had escaped his ponytail to frame his face, and his skin was a beautiful golden tone, and the only wrinkles to mar his skin were the ones from smiling, which only made him more stunning, and real and gorgeous, and everything Kakashi wanted in his life. 

Naruto, having made a detour by Sasuke’s chair to kiss him, sat down on the couch on the opposite side of Iruka, and although the couch was plenty big enough for the three of them, he scooted close enough that Iruka had to jump closer to Kakashi or Naruto would be in his lap. Kakashi wasn’t sure if it was intentional, or just Naruto being Naruto. Kakashi didn’t much care, because Iruka was pressed up against his side, soft and warm, and he let it go. 

He might not be ready to tell Iruka, but he wasn’t ready to let him go either, and he would soak up these moments, and for a while he could pretend there wasn’t this big thing standing in the way of them being together, and that that thing was him, and his past. 

***

Kakashi was considering looking into seeing if Iruka had some magical powers he didn’t know about because that had to be the only way Iruka had talked Kakashi into doing this. It hadn’t even been difficult, he’d just looked up at Kakashi, and asked, and Kakashi had been too captivated by the different tones of brown that made up Iruka’s eyes to say anything other than yes, and he was starting to regret that as he looked up at the imposing building in front of him.

He gulped and took a step forward, through the gates, the two-story brick building looking surprisingly intimidating, even with windows decorated with colourful drawings, and the yard full of playground equipment, all in primary colours. So maybe it wasn’t so much the building, but those that were waiting for him inside that terrified him.

He steeled himself and pushed open the main doors, trying to remember Iruka’s directions from yesterday, quickly making his way through the hallways, dodging a little tyke that sped past him, hall pass flying after him like a small paper cape.

The kid didn’t even apologise, just disappeared around a corner, leaving Kakashi alone in the hallway, trudging along until he pulled outside the right door. He heard chattering from inside, hushed voices, and then a familiar sound that made him feel a little more at ease immediately.

He knocked on the door, hearing the chatter cut off immediately, and then steps, and then the door was pulled open, and Iruka was there, smiling brightly at him.

“Hi!” he said, stepping aside so Kakashi could walk into the room. Twenty or so tiny kids were sitting in a semicircle, all of them staring at Kakashi, eyes huge in their small faces.

“Class, this is Agent Hatake, say hello,” Iruka said to the class, and in unison the entire class greeted him. It was a little eerie, as if they were a hive mind or something.

Kakashi hesitantly lifted a hand and waved at them.

“Mr Hatake works with the Department of Paranormal Affairs, and he’s here to talk about his work,” Iruka continued. “Can anyone tell me what paranormal beings are?”

Several hands shot in the air, which surprised Kakashi. Kids this young shouldn’t know words like that, should they?

“It’s magic!” a kid with a head of dark curls said, grinning brightly when Iruka pointed him out to answer.

Iruka laughed. “Yes, in a way I guess it is. It’s something that can’t be described with science, so what we’ve ended up calling magic.”

There had been a lot of discussion on the name Department of Paranormal Affairs through the years, various beings not happy being lumped under the Paranormal umbrella, but nothing had been done so far. When it was founded a lot of the beings they worked on controlling were still myth and legend, little known about them. As science had caught up it was clear that a lot of what they encountered was very much natural occurrences. Take shifters, for instance, once shrouded in lore and believed to be all matter of various curses and spells. Now it was clear that there was no magic to them at all, they were just a different species from humans. In the end, the name had just stuck, and the DPA just dealt with anything that wasn’t completely human, whether it was dark witches or leprechauns or vampires.

“Can you show Mr Hatake how excited you are to meet him?” Iruka asked, and the entire class clapped. Iruka gave Kakashi a small push in the back, steering him to the open spot in the semicircle, where he presumably was supposed to stand and talk, and he wanted to just run away, but somehow didn’t think there was much honour in running away from a group of kids, so he walked, albeit hesitantly, to his spot.

“I’m still not sure what I can tell them,” he whispered in Iruka’s ear. He was pretty sure the kids weren’t ready for the true nature of their work, the death and blood and gore, but he wasn’t sure what to actually tell them.

“Tell them about why you wanted to become an agent, and how they’ll have to go to school and get good grades, and how you are like policemen, only for non-humans. Nix on the violence,” Iruka whispered back before taking a step away, leaving Kakashi standing alone in front of the class. He kind of wanted to reach out and grab Iruka’s hand to have something to hold, but he shoved both hands into his pockets instead.

“So, uhm. I’m Unit Leader in the DPA, which I guess is kind of like Ir—Mr Umino. I have several agents that I take care of. I make sure they know where they are supposed to be and when and… stuff,” he started. “I became an agent because... “

He stopped, trying to gather his thoughts. He didn’t think he’d ever told anyone just why he had become an agent. It had never been his dream growing up, but then…

“Someone I knew wanted to be an agent, but then they couldn’t, so I decided to do it for them. I had to go to school and work out a lot, and it's not easy, but I like what I work with, so it was worth it.”

A hand shot up in front of him, and Kakashi looked imploringly over his shoulder at Iruka, having no idea what to do about that.

“Yes, Konohamaru, did you have a question?”

The kid shot to his feet, a crooked grin on his face. “I’m gonna be an agent too! I’m gonna be the best one!” He struck a pose, hands on his side, and Kakashi just looked at him, not knowing if he were going to say anything more.

“That’s great, Konohamaru, you’ll have to work well in school then, isn’t that right, Mr Hatake?”

“Uhm, yeah, gotta work hard,” Kakashi said, scratching at his hair. He was running out of stuff to tell these kids real fast.

“Mr Hatake, maybe you can say why we have the DPA?” Iruka said, prompting him to go on.

“Yeah, okay, so. We’re like the police, only we know lots of stuff about vampires and witches and stuff. We make sure they behave and don’t hurt people.”

“Have you ever seen a vampire, Mr Hake?” one of the kids said, foregoing putting his hand in the air, and missing about half of Kakashi’s name.

“Oh yes, lots of them.”

Twenty pairs of eyes widened at that, several mouths parting in o’s of surprise.

“What do they look like?” another kid asked, the class too curious to remember putting their hands up anymore, but Kakashi figured that as long as Iruka didn’t say anything he’d just ignore it. 

“They don’t look that different from us, but they get red eyes when they are hungry.”

He heard one of the kids to his side whisper something that sounded suspiciously like for blood, but he chose to ignore it. 

“And they have two sharp fangs.” He mimicked by holding two fingers up to his mouth, but he wasn’t sure how helpful it was with his mouth covered by fabric. 

In the end, the class wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. Iruka was always there to fill in when Kakashi’s words went over the kids’ heads or to place a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder in warning to tone it down. The kids were mostly interested in the various beings that the world contained, some of them telling stories of shifters they knew, or witches they’d met. The acceptance between the paranormal beings and the humans were slowly growing, and it showed in the younger generations. One young girl with her dark hair up in two puffs on top of her hair proudly declared that she was a quarter weretiger, and even made an impressive roar. She’d not inherited the shifter genes, but it was nice to see acceptance rather than fear. Most of the paranormal beings weren’t inherently evil, with the exceptions of demons and vampires, and beings like ghouls and zombies that had lost any trace of humanity. 

Still, it was a relief when the bell rang and Iruka told the class to say goodbye to Kakashi and then fetch their backpacks before heading to the school buses. Kakashi waited in the room until the last of the kids left, one lingering a moment to stare at Kakashi.

“I’m gonna be your boss one day,” he said, and then he took off. 

“That was Konohamaru. You probably know his uncle, Asuma Sarutobi? Konohamaru has decided that he’s going to be better than Asuma when he grows up, so he’s aiming for the Director position,” Iruka explained. “He’ll probably get it, he’s very motivated. Unless he changes his mind though, it happens a lot at that age.”

Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets, following after Iruka as he headed towards the whiteboard, wiping it off. “What are you going to do now?” he asked, rolling on his feet. 

“Have to tidy up the room, then I’m going to have to prepare classes for next week, but I might just do that at home,” Iruka said, finishing wiping and going to straighten up the kids’ desks into neat rows, bending down to pick up a few stray crayons. Kakashi sat leaned against Iruka’s desk, not even embarrassed about the way he stared at Iruka’s ass each time he bent over. 

“What about you, are you headed back to work immediately?” Iruka asked as he got up from picking up the last crayon. 

“No meetings today, so not going in until tonight, maybe ten or so.”

Iruka peered down at his watch. “That gives you eight hours. Want to go out and get food?” 

“Sure,” Kakashi said. “Need any help to finish things up here?”

Iruka looked at his classroom. “Not really. Just gotta stop by my desk and pick up my notes, then we can go?” 

They walked side by side through the building, not saying much. They didn’t need to, silence had long since stopped being awkward between them.

The office Iruka shared with several other teachers was a floor up, and there were a few other teachers already there, some talking with coffee cups in their hands, some sitting at their desks, working. Iruka headed towards a desk in the middle of the room, decently tidy, a contrast to the one next to his, which was overflowing with papers. A grey-haired teacher was sitting at the messy desk, twirling a pen and staring into thin air. He looked too young for the grey hair, but then again, Kakashi wasn’t one to talk. At some point in the last years grey hair was suddenly popular, a thing people tried to achieve. Kakashi’s hair had been like this since… Had been like this for a long time.

“Hi Mizuki,” Iruka said gathering up a bunch of papers and a few folders and shoving them into a messenger bag that hung over the back of his office chair. The grey-haired teacher looked up, dropping his pen. 

“Iruka! Leaving already?” 

“Yeah, just have a bunch of paperwork, going to do it at home tonight.”

Only then did Mizuki seem to notice Kakashi, his eyes narrowing. “And who is this?” he asked, leaning back a little in his chair, arms crossing. 

Iruka looked back over his shoulder at Kakashi. “Oh, this is… Kakashi Hatake,” he said, hitching the messenger bag over his shoulder. “He helped me out in class today, he’s with the DPA.”

“Oh, really?” Mizuki said, leaning a little forward in his chair, looking at Kakashi as if he was assessing him, but then he seemed to deem him unimportant and turned his attention back to Iruka. “Don’t work too late tonight, Iruka, it’s not worth losing sleep making lesson plans.”

Iruka just waved him off. “It’s not so bad, won’t take me that long.”

“Just ask if you need help with anything, I’m always here for you,” Mizuki said, lips twisting into a wide grin. Kakashi didn’t like the way Mizuki looked at Iruka, there was something eerily predatory over it. 

“Sure, sure,” Iruka said and turned around to Kakashi. “Let’s go.”

Kakashi wanted to wrap his arm around Iruka’s shoulder in some way of showing that Iruka was taken, but he wasn’t sure Iruka would want him to, so he kept his hands to himself as they left, but he did look back over his shoulder once, catching Mizuki pretty much leering at Iruka’s ass. 

Kakashi didn’t like this Mizuki fellow, and he had a feeling Iruka was too nice to notice what a creep he was. He’d have to keep an eye on him.

***

Iruka felt a smile spread on his face as Kakashi and he walked out of the school building and he felt the sun on his face, still warm and pleasant. It was a little early for dinner maybe, so when Kakashi suggesting picking up sandwiches and eating outside Iruka agreed. It wouldn’t take long until fall was properly upon them, so it would be nice to enjoy the last of the milder days before they were gone. 

They went to a small sandwich shop not too far from the school, picked up food and something to drink, and then Iruka brought Kakashi to a park not too far away. There was a small lake in the middle of the park, and soft slopes leading up from it. The grass was dry, so they settled on the slope, Iruka crossing his legs and Kakashi leaning back, stretching his long legs in front of him. 

They ate mostly in silence, enjoying just sitting together, Iruka’s knee brushing Kakashi’s thigh. Iruka kept his gaze mostly on the lake, letting Kakashi eat in peace. There was a group of kids playing down by the shore, throwing sticks and stones in the water, and a few people out for a walk around the water, but there was no one close to them, and the line of trees around this edge of the park cut off the noise of the city, so it felt tranquil. If Iruka closed his eyes he could almost forget that there were streets and buildings all around them, towering even above the line of trees. 

Kakashi ate quickly, but Iruka was used to that, so it didn’t surprise him, he just grabbed the wrappers from Kakashi’s sandwich and crumbled it up in the paper bag the food came in, his own wrappers following when he finished as well. 

There were still hours until Kakashi had to be at work, and there was no rush for Iruka to get started on work, so they stayed where they were. Iruka uncrossed his legs and leaned back on his hands, their shoulders bumping together. His head sought out Kakashi’s shoulder, leaning against him, and a soft smile spread on his face as he felt Kakashi’s head rest against the top of his. It was familiar and comfortable, just the two of them, bodies pressed together, not needing more. 

They hadn’t talked about the fact that Iruka had kissed Kakashi, but Kakashi hadn’t pulled away from him, so Iruka was sure it hadn’t been unappreciated. He wasn’t a self-conscious teenager anymore, he could admit to himself that he was pretty sure Kakashi had feelings for him just like he had, that Kakashi wanted to be with him, that he appreciated having him in his life, and that Kakashi wanted more as well, but something was holding him back. A secret, the reason behind the mask and eye patch. Iruka hoped Kakashi would trust him enough to tell him someday, but in the meanwhile he was going to stay right here, by Kakashi’s side.

He would be patient, but that didn’t stop his heart from wanting more. He wondered how Kakashi’s lips would be against his, if Kakashi would be a hesitant kisser, or if he’d kiss more passionately. Iruka didn’t think he’d longed for someone to kiss him like this ever. He’d been happy enough being single for a long time, had been busy raising Naruto, and working, and never met anyone to make him long for more, not until he met Kakashi. 

Kakashi was different, he’d pulled Iruka in, and Iruka didn’t think there would have been any way for him not to fall for Kakashi.

He wasn’t sure what made him say it. The warm sun was making him drowsy, and he was floating in this little bubble where all he thought about was Kakashi, and how much he cared for him, and suddenly the words were leaving his lips in a quiet whisper. 

“I wish you’d kiss me.”

He winced the moment he realised that he’d said the words out loud, and he only hoped his voice had been too low for Kakashi to catch the words, and considering Kakashi didn’t seem to react Iruka might have gotten away. He didn’t want to push Kakashi into anything he wasn’t ready for, he could wait, there was no rush. Just having Kakashi in his life was enough, it truly was. 

He relaxed back against Kakashi’s shoulder, eyes closed, feeling Kakashi’s shoulder move slightly with each breath, and he thought that he could sit like this for hours, but then Kakashi shifted, and Iruka sat up, blinking his eyes open. 

“Keep your eyes closed,” Kakashi said, and Iruka pressed his lids closed without hesitating. He had no idea what was going on, but he trusted Kakashi. 

Then there was a hand on his chin, tilting his face towards Kakashi, and then there were lips pressing against his, and Iruka’s heart all but skipped a beat. Kakashi’s lips were soft, and a little hesitant. Iruka pressed a little closer, and he made a small sound of want deep in his throat, wanting more, feeling greedy. 

When Kakashi pulled away Iruka almost followed, but by the time his mind caught up to what had happened and he blinked his eyes open Kakashi had pulled the mask back over his face. He was looking at Iruka, and Iruka swore he could see the same want and longing in Kakashi’s eye that he was feeling himself. 

He smiled, couldn’t help it, and his hand sought out Kakashi’s, their fingers intertwining, palms fitting together like they belonged.

“Thank you,” Iruka whispered, voice wavering a little with the emotion flowing through him. Kakashi had kissed him, and it had been soft and tender, and over too quickly, but it didn’t matter, because Iruka knew they were just getting started, that this was a big step for Kakashi, and he was so happy his heart felt a size bigger than it usually did. 

“No, thank you,” Kakashi said. “Thank you for being here.”

They just looked at each other, and Iruka hoped Kakashi’s smile underneath the mask was as dopey as Iruka’s felt right now.

Eventually, he let his head drop back to Kakashi’s shoulder, their hands still locked together, Kakashi’s thumb rubbing soft circles against Iruka’s wrist. 

Iruka wished they could stay like this forever, that this moment could just keep going, that this feeling of happiness that flooded through him wouldn’t ever stop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a chapter to cheer you all up in these weird days. My country is basically closing down, and I know it's not the only one. I hope you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy!


	4. Chapter 4

  
Kakashi shovelled ramen into his mouth, thankful that Iruka was keeping his gaze away without making a big deal about it, but wishing it didn’t have to be like that, wishing Iruka knew, so they could eat like normal people, eye contact and conversation, not with Kakashi shoving food in his mouth so Iruka wouldn’t have to spend the entire meal looking the other way. 

He pulled his mask up, swallowing his mouthful of noodles and pork, placing the chopsticks back on top of the bowl. Iruka took that as his cue to look up at him, a soft smile on his face before he went back to eating, looking up at Kakashi even as he slurped down his noodles. 

“Were the kids traumatised yesterday?” Kakashi asked. Iruka’s brows drew into a frown for a moment before he chuckled.

“No, they were fine. They’ve been talking about you a lot. I think some of them think you are a pirate that was also a vampire hunter, so you’ve officially been labelled as cool.”

Kakashi didn’t think he’d ever been cool in his life, so he wasn’t sure how to react to that. He’d been afraid he’d scared the kids with talk of vampires, but maybe kids were made of sterner stuff than he thought. He hadn’t hung out with many, not since he was one himself. 

“They’ve already asked when you’ll come back. They want to see your swords.” 

“I’m not sure…”

Iruka laughed again. “It’s okay, Kakashi, you don’t have to come back, and I don’t think swords would be good to bring to a school anyways. I’m glad you came yesterday though, it's good for the kids to meet different people, learn more about the world. I don’t believe in shielding them completely. Not teaching them about vampires doesn’t mean they won’t get attacked by vampires.”

Kakashi nodded, about to say something more when Iruka’s phone beeped.

Iruka dug it out of his pocket and pressed his thumb to the fingerprint reader. Kakashi guessed it was probably Naruto. It tended to be. He texted Iruka often, about the most mundane things, and Iruka always got this fond look on his face when he read the messages. 

He didn’t get the same look now, he looked more contemplative. 

“Who is it from?” Kakashi asked, hoping it didn’t sound like he was prying. 

“Mizuki, my colleague, you met him yesterday? He said that several of the teachers are heading out to a bar after work on Friday, wanted to know if I would come with.”

Kakashi was glad he wore the mask, he was pretty sure the distaste he had for the other teacher was clear on his face. He wasn't sure what it was, but this Mizuki fellow rubbed him the wrong way. Something about the way he looked at Iruka. 

He didn’t like the thought of Iruka going out drinking with him, but he also knew he didn’t have any say in it, Iruka wasn’t his property, he could go out and meet with his colleagues if he wanted to. 

Kakashi pushed sullenly on one of the chopsticks until it rolled off the bowl. 

“I’m not sure I want to go, I’m not the bar type,” Iruka said. “But I guess maybe it would be a good idea to socialise with the others.”

“You should do what you want, Iruka,” Kakashi said, pushing at the fallen chopstick. 

“I mean, I can always go home if it’s not my scene, so,” Iruka said, seemingly mostly to himself, thumb dragging over the screen as he started writing a response. “Hey, Kakashi, do you have Friday night off?” 

Kakashi mentally checked his calendar, realising that yes, he did. His unit was off the roster for the entirety of the weekend, so he only had to go in for any meetings were scheduled during the day. “Yeah, I do.”

“Would you… like to come with?” 

“You sure you want me to? Don’t you want to get to know your coworkers and stuff?”

“I mean, yes? But I’d also like it if you came with. I’m not much for bars, it would be nice having you along, someone I can talk to when the others no doubt talk amongst themselves about people I don’t know and stuff I don’t care about.”

“I mean, if you want me to, then sure?” Kakashi tried to act like it was no big deal, but inside he was pleased Iruka asked him to come with. Not just because it meant that Iruka wanted to be around him, even with the promise of other people to be with. Kakashi wasn’t just his only option, the one he was stuck with. But also because this way he could keep an eye on Mizuki, make sure he didn’t make any unwanted moves on Iruka. He seemed like the type who might. Give Iruka a shot too many and then take advantage. Or maybe Kakashi was reading way too much into it, and just didn't like the thought that someone else was interested in Iruka as well. Someone normal, who’d be able to give Iruka a normal life, who didn’t keep secrets and hid from him. 

“Let me just…” Iruka said, typing some more before sending the message. 

He put down his phone, and smiled up at Kakashi, but then his eyes squeezed shut as he bit back a yawn. 

“You should go to bed, Iruka,” Kakashi said. It was past midnight already. Iruka had asked him over for a late (for Iruka) dinner, and Kakashi had been easy to talk into taking a break from the office to head over here, but Iruka looked tired, and he had work in the morning. 

“You only just came over though,” Iruka said, blinking with decidedly tired eyes. 

“It’s fine, I need to head back to the office anyways, make sure none of the kids do anything stupid.”

“Alright, I’ll follow you to the door then,” Iruka said, standing up and side by side they walked the few feet over to the front door. 

“Thanks for inviting me over,” Kakashi said.

“You’re always welcome here, I like spending time with you.”

Kakashi felt warm inside, and for a moment they just looked at each other, and there was a sudden tension in the air that hadn’t been there before. Kakashi’s gaze dropped down to Iruka’s lips, saw the tip of Iruka’s tongue poking out, wetting the bottom one, and Kakashi wanted nothing more than to lean in and taste that lip for himself. 

He dragged his gaze back to Iruka’s and realised that Iruka had caught him, knowing exactly what Kakashi had been staring at, and judging by the sudden heat in Iruka’s gaze Iruka seemed to be thinking much of the same, but they couldn't, at least not until Kakashi finally came clean about everything. Then, if Iruka by some miracle, still accepted him, then…

“So, uhm, good night,” Kakashi said, looking away, dragging his fingers through his already messy hair. 

Iruka blinked up at him, and there was no denying that he looked disappointed, and Kakashi hated that it was all because of him, but he couldn’t do anything other than leave. He felt a little heavier as he made his way back to the office, feeling like he was continuing to let down Iruka and hating the feeling. 

***

Not until Iruka had showered and was standing in front of his wardrobe did he remember that he didn’t have anything to wear to a bar. Not that he knew what to wear to bars, but it should probably be a little different from the plain sweaters and chinos he wore to work most days? 

He tried to think back to the last time he went out, but he was having a hard time remembering. He’d adopted Naruto young, so afterwards his life had revolved around creating a stable home life for Naruto, which didn’t exactly open up for a lot of nights out. Which he didn’t feel bad about at all, seeing Naruto grow up into the man he was today was worth much more than going out. 

He’d gone out during his student days, because who didn’t, but he could probably count the bar visits after that on one hand. Which might sound a little pathetic, but he didn’t feel like he had missed out. 

But right now he was realising that at least he should have tried to figure out just what one wore out these days because he didn’t have a clue. Dress up, dress down? 

In the end, he ended up on a pair of jeans, dark-wash and a little tight around the thighs, but they kind of made his ass look not half-bad, so that was probably a plus. He wasn’t sure why that was suddenly important to him. He didn’t care what his coworkers thought of his ass, and Kakashi had already seen him in sweats and pyjamas, so not like he had to dress up to impress him, but still. 

He debated between a sweater and his shirts, and in the end (after a quick google search to make sure the bar seemed to be a pretty casual one) he ended up with a t-shirt tucked into his jeans and a shirt unbuttoned over it. He’d grab a thin jacket before he left, it should be fine, it was a surprisingly mild fall season so far. 

He pulled his hair up into his usual ponytail, but hesitated with the elastic still around his fingers, and then ended up leaving it loose around his face. The elastic went around his wrist because the chance he’d grow sick of the loose hair before the night was over was definitely there. 

Making sure he looked presentable, running his fingers through his hair one last time, he left his apartment, heading towards the bus stop. The bar wasn’t too far away, but he didn’t want to walk and get all sweaty. 

The bar itself was only a block away when he exited the bus, so he headed towards it, hoping some of the others were there already. It would be so awkward to be the first one. 

Luckily he saw several familiar faces the moment he stepped past the doors, and he headed towards the booth they occupied, sitting down next to Aoba. He said hello to the others. He was glad he remembered the names of most of them, only the blond one in the corner escaping his memory. He’d just play it cool until someone said her name, it’d be fine.

Only moments later Mizuki came over, carrying several bottles of beer. He indicated for Iruka to move further into the booth and then sat down next to him, sliding the bottles to the others, one stopping in front of Iruka. 

“Ok, you didn’t have to—” Iruka started when he realised it was meant for him. 

“It’s okay, you’ll take a later round,” Mizuki said, grinning at him. He’d pulled a snapback on over his grey hair, and it made him look younger than he did in the teacher’s lounge. Iruka had no idea how old he was, probably late twenties, definitely Iruka’s junior. The grey hair aged him, but it was probably a fashion thing. It held the slight dullness of dyed hair, unlike… Unlike Kakashi’s. His hair was all-natural, because Kakashi was not the type to dye his hair. He wasn't that old, not even forty, but he must’ve gone grey early, because it was a solid grey, and somehow it suited him, didn’t age him at all, just made him look more stunning. 

The others had clearly been talking amongst themselves, Aoba, Suzume and the last teacher caught up in some conversation, but Mizuki ignored them, turning his attention to Iruka instead. 

“I’m glad you could come, it’s nice meeting outside school. You get to see other sides of people this way, out of sight of the kids.”

Iruka chuckled, and he could hear how it felt a little stilted and awkward. “Hah, yeah. I’m not sure I’m all that different, to be honest.”

Mizuki turned a little on his seat, placed an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, looking up at Iruka. His hand went up, tugging at a strand of Iruka’s hair. “I’m not sure, Iruka, get a few beers in you, we’ll probably see more than just your teacher mode.”

Iruka straightened up a little, enough that Mizuki was no longer touching his hair. “Ah, maybe,” he said. He felt a little awkward and suddenly found himself wishing Kakashi was here already, even though he knew Kakashi had been called into a meeting and would be a little late. He wasn’t sure what to make of Mizuki’s behaviour. It was almost flirty, and Iruka had no idea what to do about that. Mizuki was probably just messing with him, so probably best to pretend like nothing. 

Iruka turned towards Aoba, asking about something school-related, ignoring Mizuki and feeling a little bad about it, because Mizuki was the one who had invited him to come along after all. 

Soon enough he forgot about the awkwardness from earlier, dragged into conversations with the entire group, drinking his beer and relaxing. He still felt a little like an outsider, didn’t know the people they were talking about most of the time, but it wasn’t too bad, and soon he was on a second beer, feeling his shoulders relax a little, thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad going out to bars. 

When the third round was approaching Iruka found himself volunteering to get it, and Mizuki moved so he could get out of the booth. Iruka headed towards the bar and was surprised when Mizuki came along. He refrained from saying anything about it. 

There were several people at the bar already, so Iruka leaned against a small patch of clear space, waiting for his turn. Mizuki drew up behind him, and he looked about to say something when Iruka felt his gaze drawn towards the entrance to the bar, and just as he looked he saw Kakashi walk in the doors, hands in his pockets and back a little slouched as he looked around the room. 

Iruka found himself instantly smiling, lifting his arm to wave, and soon Kakashi spotted him, heading towards him.

“Kakashi, I’m glad you could get away from work,” Iruka said. 

Kakashi looked over Iruka’s shoulder, and Iruka thought he saw Kakashi’s visible eye narrowing for a moment. 

“Ah, I guess he can help you carry the bottles, so I’ll head to the bathroom,” Mizuki said, sounding a little miffed.

Iruka had forgotten all about Mizuki standing behind him, all his attention on Kakashi the moment the agent entered the room. It was a little embarrassing, he sometimes felt more like a teenager in love than the grown man he was. 

Iruka was about to say something to Kakashi when the bartender finally stopped in front of him and he ordered a round of beers for the table, adding one for Kakashi. As the bartender dropped off the bottles Kakashi grabbed four of them, leaving two for Iruka. Iruka shook his head a little but didn’t complain as he showed Kakashi back to their table. 

He sat down back beside Aoba, and when Kakashi squeezed in after him in the spot that had previously been occupied by Mizuki he didn’t say a word, just passed the bottles around and introduced Kakashi to the others. 

The other teachers had been in the middle of some conversation, and Iruka didn’t mind as he turned towards Kakashi. They were pressed together knee to shoulder, and he liked the proximity, liked feeling Kakashi’s strong body next to his, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that he made sure to lean closer to Kakashi, creating a little space between himself and Aoba. Kakashi didn’t seem to mind. 

It didn't take long before Mizuki came back to the booth, and Iruka saw how Mizuki stopped, glaring a little down at Kakashi before grabbing a free chair from one of the other tables, sitting down at the edge of the table. Iruka wasn’t sure if Mizuki wanted him to apologise for not holding his spot for him, but it wasn’t like it had been a big problem for Mizuki to find somewhere to sit. 

Iruka drank some more beer, listening in on what the others talked about, and realised that he was still horribly out of the loop, and if he had no idea who they were talking about then Kakashi certainly wouldn’t either. 

“How was work?” Iruka asked, and Kakashi just shrugged. 

“Meetings all day, Tsunade must hate me.”

Iruka smiled. Kakashi didn’t seem to like the bureaucracy that came with his work, never happy about endless meetings and paperwork, and sometimes Iruka wondered how he’d said yes to being promoted from a regular agent to a unit leader, because he seemed happier when he had been able to go into the field, doing something tangible to help people.

Kakashi looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and Iruka could tell by the small wrinkles that spread around the thin skin there that he was smiling. He’d gotten good at reading the small tells, the way his eye narrowed or wrinkled or opened wide that at times he almost forgot that most of Kakashi’s face was covered. 

He didn’t think Kakashi noticed it much either, it never seemed to bother him, even though the eye patch had to make his depth perception a little off, and Iruka could only imagine that it wouldn’t be too comfortable breathing through fabric all day, but the only problem Kakashi seemed to have was with eating and drinking. Like now, which Iruka only realised when he had all but emptied his bottle, and Kakashi still hadn’t taken a single sip of his own, instead peeling off the label, piece by piece. 

Apparently, Iruka wasn’t the only one to notice. 

“Not big on beer?” Mizuki said, and both Kakashi and Iruka looked at him. Mizuki nodded towards the bottle and the little pile of paper around it. 

Kakashi just shrugged. He was likely used to people pointing it out, but then he looked back towards Iruka and winked. Iruka watched as Kakashi balled the paper into a small ball, and then lobbed it at an unsuspecting Mizuki. The ball went high, hitting Mizuki neatly on the top of his head, and as Mizuki’s attention drew up into the air to figure out what had happened, and Iruka and the others attention was on Mizuki Kakashi must have used the opportunity to drink, because seconds later his bottle was placed back on the table, empty, and Kakashi’s mask was firmly back over his face. 

Iruka, used to it, just chuckled, but Mizuki crossed his arms, pouting when he realised what had happened. 

The group fell back into easy conversation, Iruka’s attention mostly turned to Kakashi, but only a few minutes in Kakashi’s phone went off. He looked a little tense as he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen. 

“It’s the office, I have to take it,” he said apologetically, and Iruka just nodded. He knew that Kakashi’s work wasn’t regular 9-5, and it was hardly the first time he’d been called in when he was off. Sometimes only for a quick word from one of the other unit leaders, sometimes because something big was going down and Kakashi’s unit was being called in to assist. 

As Kakashi slid out of the booth, taking the call as he made his way to the exit where it’d be quieter to talk Iruka drained the last of his own beer.

Considering that he rarely drank Iruka figured he shouldn’t be surprised when he started feeling the effect after just three beers, especially since dinner had been a hastily thrown together PB&J when he came home, because he hadn’t bothered with more. He didn’t like not being in control of himself, didn’t like feeling like his body wasn’t paying attention and made him stumble or waver on his feet, so he figured he’d had enough alcohol for the night. While the rest of the table got a new round he walked to the bar and ordered a couple of glasses of soda. He needed it to keep his head clear, and he figured he could bring one for Kakashi too. Looking towards the windows Iruka could see Kakashi, phone pressed to his ear, and smiled a little to himself as he walked back across the bar to the other teachers. 

The glasses were filled a little too much, so Iruka walked carefully, but being in a bar it didn’t help much, because he wasn’t even halfway across the floor before someone slammed into him, drops sloshing over the rim. He turned to apologise even though he was pretty sure it hadn’t been his fault, but the woman had already made her way towards the bar, ignoring him completely. Rude, Iruka thought, but shrugged it off, heading over to the other teachers, glad he’d at least not dropped the glasses. 

“Hitting the liquor already?” Mizuki said, grinning at him as Iruka sat down. “You are just full of surprises.”

“Uhm, oh, no, more like giving up already,” Iruka shrugged and quietly wiped his hands on his pants, wincing a little at the stickiness and wishing he had wet wipes.

“That’s cool. Hope you don’t mind us keeping it up a while more?”

Iruka just shook his head, drinking a little. The soda was almost sticky sweet, and it made him remember why he so rarely drank it, but at least it would help keep his head clear. Just drinking plain water seemed a little wrong somehow, although he thought he would’ve preferred it. 

***

Kakashi shoved his phone back into his pocket. There’d been an incident with an ogre not too far out of town, and Asuma had called him for advice, remembering that Kakashi had dealt with ogres before. Luckily it had been years since any had made their way into their city’s borders. They were nasty beings, big and dumb. Usually, they tended to be a nuisance, eat livestock and make a real mess of things, but when they made their way into cities, where there were no sheep or cows to eat they were known to turn to the next best thing, which tended to be humans, so they had to be dealt with quickly. 

Considering there were so few of them left on the continent they were classified as an endangered species, and the DPA were under orders never to kill one unless they had attacked humans, so it would be up to Asuma’s team to get it relocated far away. There were plenty of locations deep in the mountains where beings such as ogres were mostly placed, with plenty of wildlife to snack on and few humans to disturb, but the problem was getting them from the city limits and out there. It would have to be tranquilised and then lifted away by a helicopter, but both were easier said than done. 

Kakashi had hunted one down before, so he gave what he had of information about how they reacted, good spots to hit them with tranq darts and what other information could be pertinent, and ten minutes later Asuma thanked him and hung up. Kakashi was glad Asuma hadn’t asked him to join because he would have probably said yes and he didn’t want to leave, not with Iruka drinking with Mizuki. 

Kakashi still didn’t know what rubbed him so wrong about Mizuki. Something about the way he looked at Iruka. Almost like a predator. Kakashi was almost certain Mizuki knew Kakashi was interested in Iruka, and he probably saw it as a challenge. 

It was a challenge Kakashi wasn’t going to let him win because Iruka deserved better than Mizuki. Just like he probably deserved better than Kakashi. 

He made his way back inside and headed over to the booth, stopping when he saw that neither Iruka or Mizuki was there, only the three other teachers. 

“Where’s Iruka?” he asked, knowing he probably sounded a little brusque, but not caring.

Suzume looked a little startled as she looked up at him, probably not having noticed that he had come back at all. “Oh, uhm, he was starting to get really drunk I think, he went to the bathroom and Mizuki went after him to make sure he was fine. He was stumbling all over the place.”

“Drunk?” Kakashi asked surprised. Iruka hadn’t even seemed tipsy when he left only ten minutes or so ago. “How much did he drink while I was gone?”

Suzume glanced towards a glass standing in front of where Iruka had been sitting. “That’s all he ordered after you left. I don’t know what it was. I thought it was soda but must’ve been something stronger. Like, a lot stronger.”

The glass was still half-full of what look like regular coke, a little thin from melting ice cubes, with a couple of lemon wedges floating on top. What could Iruka have ordered that got him noticeable drunk on half a glass? Fucking Everclear and coke? 

He grabbed the glass and lifted it to his nose. It didn’t smell of liquor at all, just sweet, like soda. But there was something else, a slightly spicy scent. He looked down at it more closely, and there was the faintest trace of shimmer to the drink, like an iridescent quality. Kakashi knew exactly what was happening, and he felt fear rise in his throat, bitter and cloying. 

The glass almost toppled over as he all but threw it to the table and took off in the direction of the bathrooms. 

There was no mistaking what was wrong with Iruka’s drink. Kakashi had heard enough about it. It had been spiked. Not with the conventional roofies human scum tended to favour, but with a magical variety, one that had been growing in popularity for the last few years. It was a simple enough potion for most witches to brew, even if it was frowned upon and most wouldn’t go near it. However, people would pay good cash for it, and money had a tendency to loosen people’s morales. 

It worked much the same as roofies, but was virtually untraceable in a body afterwards, worked faster and was more difficult to detect in a drink unless you knew what to look for. It was tasteless, and beyond a sweet smell and the iridescent quality it was unnoticeable. 

It wasn’t a drug people took for their own pleasure, it was a drug given to others, and never for good reasons. Someone had slipped it into Iruka’s drink, and considering Mizuki had oh so conveniently decided to go after Iruka…

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed in anger as he threw open the doors to the bathroom, scared of what he was going to find, only hoping it hadn’t been a rouse and Mizuki had brought Iruka elsewhere. 

He felt a surge of relief when the first thing he saw was Iruka, standing by the sink, hunched over it, water pouring over the back of his head. But then Kakashi saw Mizuki, a hand low on Iruka’s back, stroking him, standing much too close, and before Kakashi could stop himself he found himself across the room, the neck of Mizuki’s shirt clenched in his fist, with Mizuki pressed face-first into the wall. 

Mizuki made a startled sound, thrashing in Kakashi’s grip, but Kakashi was too strong, easily pinning him to the wall. 

“What did you do to Iruka?” Kakashi spat, and Mizuki’s eyes grew big. 

“Nothing! Let go of me!”

“Not until you tell me exactly what you planned to do.” Kakashi’s voice was low, threatening, and Mizuki seemed to think much the same. 

“Shit, man, he was looking all sick, I was just making sure he was okay!”

“Why did you drug his drink, Mizuki? Wanted to loosen him up, making it easy for yourself?”

Surprisingly enough Mizuki looked genuinely appalled at Kakashi’s words. 

“What are—drugged? I didn’t do anything to his drink! He was just slurring his words and stumbling his way towards the bathroom, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t fall and split his head open or something. I swear, I didn’t do anything!”

Kakashi let go of Mizuki and took a step backwards. He’d been so sure, but Mizuki seemed genuine, eyes wide in surprise at the accusations, gaze flickering between Kakashi and Iruka, looking unsure of what to do. 

There was a sound behind Kakashi, and when he turned he saw Iruka slumped to the floor, sitting on his ass on the dirty tiles, looking utterly dejected, eyes glassy and hair a mess, half wet and half tangled by the look of it. 

Kakashi forgot all about Mizuki and dropped to his knees in front of Iruka, trying to make him look at him, but Iruka’s gaze was wavering all about the room, as if he was having a hard time focusing. 

“Iruka, can you hear me?” Kakashi said. 

“‘kashi,” Iruka slurred, and a dopey grin spread on his face. 

“Yes, it’s me. Do you think you can stand up?”

Iruka looked down as if he only now realised he wasn’t standing up. Then he shook his head. “The world kept spin-spin-spinning.” 

“Alright, I’m going to get you home now.”

Kakashi pulled Iruka to his feet, steadying him with an arm around his midriff, and Iruka leaned into him. 

“Mizuki, I’m calling in a friend of mine, make sure no one touches the drink on Iruka’s table, okay. You might not have drugged him, but someone did, and I am going to find out who.” 

Mizuki looked a little in shock, but nodded and then he left the room, seemingly figuring Kakashi had control of the situation. Kakashi hoped he had come to the right conclusion about Mizuki, that he had not done anything to Iruka. 

But that left the question, who had?

He called Kurenai while he led Iruka out of the bathroom and towards the exit, and she promised to send one of her agents over to do some tests right away. It wasn’t likely to lead to much, but with the drink still there they might be able to figure out the origin of the potion. Maybe the surveillance cams had picked up something as well. In the meanwhile, Kakashi needed to get Iruka home. There would be no lasting damage, Iruka would just need to sleep it off. If the witch was any good there wouldn’t even be a headache tomorrow morning to speak off. 

Walking would have been easier without Iruka stumbling his way next to him, clinging to his side, arm around Kakashi’s shoulders, fingers playing with the tips of Kakashi’s hair. 

“It’s so soft,” Iruka muttered, smushing his face against Kakashi’s shoulder. 

Because he’d come to the bar late, and it was in a residential area, he’d had trouble finding a parking spot, and had ended up a couple of blocks away from the bar. They’d barely made it one block before Iruka slumped further against him and stopped walking. When Kakashi looked down on him Iruka’s eyes were closed.

“Iruka?” Kakashi asked, and Iruka made a little noise but didn’t open his eyes. 

The drugs must have been strong, because Iruka looked like he was half-way passed out already, and this way they’d never get back to the car. 

“Alright, you are gonna get on my back, and I’ll carry you,” Kakashi said. Iruka didn’t make a move, just hung off his shoulder, sagging a little as if his knees were about to go. 

In the end, Kakashi had to heft Iruka onto his back, leaning forward enough that Iruka didn’t slide back down, hooking his hands around Iruka’s thighs to keep him in place. Iruka wound his arms around Kakashi’s neck, but they were limp and not helping much.

It mattered little, Kakashi had no trouble carrying Iruka, he wasn’t all that heavy, just a nice weight on his back, warm and soft. 

Iruka’s chin was hooked over Kakashi shoulder, and as they walked he could hear Iruka mumbling to himself, and the words he could make out made him feel all weird and fluttery. 

_Smell so good. Soft. ‘kashi._ They were all compliments, and as far as Kakashi could make out they were all directed at him, and he had no idea what he had done to deserve Iruka thinking so highly of him. 

He kind of wished he could have just carried Iruka all the way home, but it would take too long, so as they came to the car he carefully placed him in the passenger seat and buckled him before making his way to the other side. 

The drive didn’t take long, and soon they could pull out outside Iruka’s building. 

Iruka’s eyes were open now, although his lids were heavy, and he had a soft smile on his face as he looked at Kakashi. 

He had to carry Iruka up into the apartment again, and when he got the keys out of Iruka’s pocket and opened the door, heading towards the bedroom, Iruka refused to let go, arms clinging to Kakashi’s neck, surprisingly strong all of a sudden. 

“Don’t wanna,” he muttered, nose pressed against Kakashi’s neck, right underneath the edge of the mask, where his skin was visible. 

“You have to sleep,” Kakashi said, trying to gently pry him off, but Iruka’s arms just tightened further around him. 

“Don’t wanna be alone,” Iruka said, words slurring together, but Kakashi could easily make them out. “Want you here, want you to like me.”

Kakashi’s heart broke a little at the dejected tone in Iruka’s voice. 

“I do like you, Iruka,” he said.

Iruka made a whining noise. “Then why won’t you kiss me more?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Only because you make it complicated,” Iruka said, arms loosening enough that Kakashi could set him down on the bed. Iruka fell back, arms spread on the bed, feet still on the ground, and Kakashi sunk to his knees to untie his laces. He wanted Iruka to be comfortable, and sleeping in shoes would be anything but. 

By the time he had gotten the shoes off he saw that Iruka had unbuttoned his jeans and shimmied them half-way down his thighs and apparently stopped because it got too bothersome. Kakashi hesitated, but then helped Iruka get them off the rest of the way. Iruka was still wearing boxers, but Kakashi made sure to look away, didn’t want to take advantage of Iruka’s state. 

Iruka managed to get his shirt off himself, leaving him in t-shirt and boxers, but it seemed to have exhausted him, so he just laid in the same position, legs dangling over the edge, about to fall asleep. 

Kakashi gently lifted him and laid him with his head on the pillows, pulling the sheets over him. 

Iruka’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was getting heavier, and Kakashi desperately wished things were different, that he could’ve crawled into bed with him, that he could wake up every morning with Iruka right there by his side, sleepy grin and morning kisses waiting for him. 

“Good night,” he whispered, and Iruka made a little displeased sound. 

Kakashi hesitated, looking down on Iruka, seeing how his brow furrowed a little. He probably wouldn’t remember anything of this tomorrow.

“I don’t just like you,” Kakashi said. “I think I might love you.”

He leaned down, pulled his mask down and gently kissed Iruka’s cheek before leaving, letting Iruka sleep in peace. He made a bed for himself on the couch, wanting to be near in case anything happened, to make sure Iruka was fine in the morning. 

He closed his eyes, but he had a hard time falling asleep. He kept hearing Iruka’s voice in his head. 

_Only because you make it complicated._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi needs to listen to Iruka, for real.


	5. Chapter 5

  
After an achingly long meeting which mostly involved trying not to fall asleep as they went over various aspects of budgeting and other bureaucracy that Kakashi couldn’t even pretend he was interested in, Kakashi found himself walking through the hallways of the DPA headquarters, hands in pockets and shoulders slouched. There were still three hours until his unit was due to come into the office, and all that waited for him to occupy his time was a stack of paperwork so high it was on the verge of toppling over, if it hadn’t already in the couple of hours Kakashi had been stuck in a stuffy meeting room. 

He shuddered just thinking about delving into the stack, knew how tedious the task was, and knew he’d have to do something else or he’d end up setting fire to all the reports and then Tsunade would skin him alive most likely. She had quite the temper at times. 

Besides, he needed to keep his mind occupied, and paperwork was not a very good distraction. It was too easy to grow unfocused and letting his mind wander. He’d been in a steady feel of unease ever since last Friday with what had happened to Iruka. 

Iruka was fine now, had slept off the drugs, and had taken the news about what happened remarkably well, clearly thinking it had to have been a mistake, that he had never been the intended target and waving off Kakashi’s worry. 

Truth was that he might be right. Kurenai’s agent had arrived soon after Kakashi and Iruka left the bar, and both Iruka and Kakashi’s sodas had been drugged. There were no cameras to tell who had done it, and it made no sense. Who would want to roofie both of them? Not that the drugs would have even worked on Kakashi but not many people would know that anyways. It might just be a random creep, or it could be something else and Kakashi didn’t like it one bit. 

With a sigh he took the stairs down to his floor, feet dragging. He needed to get away for a while. He could go to the cafeteria and get some lunch, but he wasn’t really hungry. He could hide in his office and read his book, but that would mean he’d be in the vicinity of the paperwork and that was bad enough. 

He heard footsteps approaching from below, the familiar sound of sneakers screeching as they pushed off the ground accompanied by the huff of heavy breathing. He had no doubt about just who was running up the stairs because there was only one person who would be liable to do that. 

“Hello Gai,” Kakashi said, stepping to the side to allow Gai to jog past him. He was wearing an honest to god tracksuit—in bright forest green—and had chosen to pair it with orange sneakers. It looked atrocious, but Kakashi didn’t expect anything less from Gai. The guy voluntarily got his hair trimmed into a bowl cut after all.

“Kakashi! Come to join me for some youthful exercise?” Gai exclaimed, jogging in place. “We can make a competition of it!”

Kakashi automatically opened his mouth to decline the invitation. It was one Gai gave on an almost daily basis, but this time Kakashi found himself hesitating, and then, before he knew it, he found himself saying yes. 

Gai’s face instantly lit up in a bright grin. “Shall we run stairs, fifty times up and down?” he suggested.

“Ah, what about sparring instead,” Kakashi countered, not much feeling like conquering the numerous stairs for the rest of the day. 

“Sparring! Wonderful choice!” Gai exclaimed, no less ecstatic about this. 

Kakashi asked him to meet him downstairs in ten minutes. He had a change of workout clothes in his office because he wasn’t unfamiliar with hitting the gym for a run on the treadmill when he had the time. Since he rarely had the opportunity to go into the field he had to ensure his body didn’t completely wither away. He was stronger and faster than the average person, but he wasn’t going to rely on his body keeping that up forever either. 

When he stepped into the gym on the second floor he saw that Gai was already there and that he had unzipped the awful track jacket, leaving him in only a sleeveless shirt, blessedly plain white. He was doing push-ups because apparently he had so much energy to burn off he couldn’t take a break while he waited for Kakashi. 

It made the muscles in his upper arms stand out with every push, thick biceps and a web of veins that showed the result of Gai’s seeming addiction to keeping in shape.

“Kakashi!” Gai exclaimed when he saw him, jumping to his feet and doing a couple of frog leaps before he settled. 

Kakashi’s outfit was a lot more subdued than Gai’s, grey sweatpants, black t-shirt and dark blue sneakers. He had thought about tying his hair back but hadn’t found a hairband, so it was left in its usual mess. He’d probably regret that when it hung in his eyes, drenched with sweat, later, but that was a problem for then. 

“Help me warm up?” Kakashi asked, and Gai beamed at him, looking like nothing would make him happier. 

Fifteen minutes later and Kakashi drew his fist back and sent it flying in a controlled right hook, making a dull sound as it hit the sandbag. Gai held it steady for him while egging him on. Why Gai hadn’t ended up as a personal trainer rather than DPA unit leader Kakashi would never know, he was much more suited for this than paperwork and meetings. Must be that pesky sense of wanting to save people that drove some people. There were plenty of reasons why people ended up working in the DPA, putting their lives at risk every day. Kakashi had his very own reasons that had little to do with a sense of right or wrong. 

He fell back a little and twisted his body, bringing his foot up until it connected neatly with the bag. Gai made a little huffing sound as he absorbed the impact. 

“Quite the kick you got there!”

Kakashi rolled his shoulders and jabbed at the bag a couple of times, not bothering to answer Gai. Didn’t have much of a comment on his strength. 

It was cathartic to focus on nothing but the muscles in his body forcing his hands to connect with the bag over and over, and he let himself get carried away by it, drowning out worry about Iruka and his unit and everything else he couldn’t control.

He hadn’t noticed that his punches had gone from light jabs to full-on hits until Gai made a sound in complaint, a whoosh of air as the bag slammed into his chest. 

Kakashi pulled back, worried he might’ve hurt Gai, but Gai just grinned as he rubbed his chest, complimenting Kakashi’s youthful energy. 

They switched places, Gai using all of his precious youthful energy to beat up the sandbag, hard hits that came from enormous amounts of practice. Kakashi knew how serious Gai took working out, had after all been partnered with him when both of them were fresh-faced agents starting out at the DPA. 

That had been ages ago and they’d both moved up in the ranks since then, but sometimes Kakashi missed being out on the street every night. It had been a lot less paperwork, just reports he usually half-assed, and a lot of helping people. There was nothing quite like the feeling of saving lives, but the opposite was the pure devastation when they were too late.

All in all, he was still making a difference in his new position, ensuring his agents had the best advantage when they went out on the street. It was not a life he had dreamed about as a kid, but he couldn’t envision himself working anywhere else than the DPA. 

With a grunt Gai kicked the sandbag hard enough to pull Kakashi out of his thought, stumbling a half-step backwards. 

“How are the proteges?” he asked before jabbing at the bag. “They keeping out of trouble?” 

Kakashi knew exactly who Gai was talking about. Only two of Kakashi’s agents had the reputation to get themselves deep in trouble after all. “Yeah, I think they are doing well. Naruto has gotten a real handle on his powers and Sasuke is glaring a little less than he used to.”

“Certainly wasn’t glaring last week,” Gai said with a chuckle as he rolled a shoulder to loosen it. 

“How so?”

“Didn’t you hear? Kurenai walked in on them getting frisky in one of the broom closets after their shift. She wasn’t too impressed, but what can you do, all that energy after a quiet shift gotta go somewhere! I say good on them for displaying their love!”

Of course Naruto and Sasuke would hook up at work, because why wouldn’t they. Kakashi just shook his head. If that was all the trouble they were getting into he was not going to complain. He just hoped they cleaned up after themselves. Maybe he’d ask Sasuke later. Hand him a little care package to keep in his desk. Tissues and wet wipes and a few condoms for good measure. He could just picture the outraged look Sasuke would give him. 

“Let’s spar for real,” he said, cracking his knuckles, wanting to see how his fighting skills stood up to the desk job. Gai nodded with a grin on his face. 

***

  
Iruka stretched his back, feeling his spine pop. It tended to get painful when he’d spent hours hunched over small desks as the kids worked on their colouring, but finally, it was recess and they were running around outside so he could get a break. 

There was a knock on his classroom door and when Iruka looked over he saw Mizuki peering in through the window, waving at him. Iruka nodded his head in an indication for him to come into the room. He hadn’t seen Mizuki since Friday, and the memories of that night was still a little hazy up to the point where they were gone altogether. 

He suppressed a shudder. It was eerie having no recollection of what had happened to him. He only knew about it because Kakashi had told him. Iruka had never imagined anyone would’ve ever drugged him, it wasn’t something he had ever worried about. Especially not when he was out with coworkers in a bar, and not some trashy nightclub. He had no idea when someone had managed to slip something in his drink, but he guessed he probably hadn’t paid much attention either. Silly, he should know better. 

“Hi, Mizuki, can I help you with anything?” Iruka asked. 

“Nah, just figured we could have lunch together. I wanted to know how you were doing after…” his voice trailed off as if he didn’t know what to say. 

Iruka suppressed a sigh, not wanting to talk about it. “I’m fine. Kakashi got me home safely, was mostly good when I woke up the next day.”

“I’m glad,” Mizuki replied, pulling a chair up opposite Iruka’s desk, unwrapping a sandwich and taking a bite. Iruka figured he was stuck here for lunch unless he wanted to be rude, so he grabbed his lunch from his bag. 

Kakashi had said that he had found Iruka in the bathroom with Mizuki and that Mizuki allegedly had taken care of him. Kakashi hadn’t sounded like he believed that was true at all, heavily implying that Mizuki wasn’t up to anything good. Iruka found that hard to believe. What possible reason could Mizuki have for drugging him, what could he gain from that? 

“So, that Kakashi guy you brought along, who is he, your boyfriend?” Mizuki said around a bite of food. 

“Ah, no, he’s… a friend?” Iruka answered, having no idea just how to explain the relationship he had with Kakashi. They were friends yes, had never talked about more, but there was no denying there was something else there. They’d shared a few kisses, held hands. Clearly, they both had feelings that went beyond mere friendship, but just how far Iruka didn’t know. Kakashi was holding back, not ready to fully trust Iruka yet, and Iruka didn’t want to push him. He trusted Kakashi to tell him whenever he was ready. 

Mizuki gave him a look that clearly said he wasn’t buying it, but then a small smile tugged at his lips. “So, you are single then?” 

Iruka took a bite of his food just to not have to answer. He was still chewing when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, skin prickling. He looked back over his shoulder, having the eerie feeling of someone watching him, but there was nothing but a whiteboard behind him. He looked to either side, but there were no faces in the windows, nor in the door leading out into the hallway, so he shook it off. He was probably just paranoid after what had happened on Friday, wasn’t that strange that he would be.

When he looked back at Mizuki the other teacher appeared to still be waiting for an answer, so Iruka merely shrugged a shoulder. “I guess.”

“He seems a little…” Mizuki said, dragging the sentence as if he expected Iruka to finish for him, but Iruka just kept eating, having no idea what Mizuki was implying, and not sure he wanted to know either. 

“Just the whole mask thing? What, is he like sick or something? I guess they do it like that over in Asia, but it seems a bit weird here, yeah? He’s had it every time I’ve seen him, can’t be completely normal.”

Iruka felt fed up with the conversation, but he didn’t want to ruin the relationship with any of his coworkers so early on, it would make working here awkward, so he just decided to try and shut down the conversation entirely. 

“I’m used to not normal, it’s not my business what anyone wears.”

Mizuki laughed at that, gesticulating with the small sliver of a sandwich he had leftover. “You seem pretty normal to me, Iruka!”

“Then you haven’t met my son,” Iruka deadpanned, mostly to steer the conversation away from Kakashi. He had enough thinking about Kakashi himself, he didn’t need anyone else looking into what they had and what it meant. 

The bread drooped a little from Mizuki’s hand, nearly falling to the desk. “You have a kid, really?” He seemed surprised, but then again, Iruka hadn’t exactly gone around telling people much about himself, he’d been busy working.

“Yeah, Naruto. He’s almost twenty-eight, so I’m not sure I’d call him kid, but yeah.”

Mizuki’s eyes grew wide, and suddenly he was leaning over the table. Twenty-eight? Damned, how old are you and what’s your secret? I’m sorry, but you don’t look old enough to have a kid that age.”

Iruka couldn’t help the small laugh at the stunned look on Mizuki’s face. “I’m thirty-six. I adopted Naruto when he was a teenager.”

“Shit, for real? Man, I was starting to wonder for a moment. So, what’s so not normal about him?”

Iruka hesitated, wondering how much to say. Years of living in a small town where fear of anything out of the ordinary had left him wary, but he knew people were different in the city, more used to other species, more tolerant. “He’s a werefox,” he ended up with, not about to divulge the true nature of what Naruto was. He’d gotten enough shit being just a werefox after all. 

“Where we used to live that was a pretty unnatural thing. Anything not strictly human was frowned upon and feared. They didn’t know much about the rest of the world, didn’t care to know.” 

Mizuki shrugged. “I guess it’s different here in the city. Shifters aren’t that big of a deal. They mostly stick to themselves, don’t they? Can’t say I’ve met many, and I’ve lived here just about my entire life. Good on you for helping the kid out, he must be pretty stoked to have you for a dad.”

Iruka smiled, looking away, casting a glance out the window when he felt that prickling on the back of his neck again. “I hope so at least,” he said when he had made sure he couldn’t see anyone. 

“Damned, Iruka. Not only are you good-looking, but you’re also a saint, aren’t you? Quite the catch. If I was this Kakashi fellow I’d make a move, or someone else might snap you up right in front of him.”

Iruka waved him away, balling up the empty paper left from his sandwich. He had no intention to let himself get snapped up by anyone else. He’d rather have no one. He had no problem being single, wouldn’t settle for someone he didn’t truly have feelings for. Like he had for Kakashi. 

“I don’t know what it is about this Kakashi that makes you look like that when you think about him, but I’m definitely envious,” Mizuki said, but this time there was no hint of teasing on his voice, and he too balled up his lunch bag and then pushed away from the desk. His mood seemed to have turned.

Iruka had no idea how Mizuki knew he’d been thinking about Kakashi, but he didn’t question it, just said goodbye as Mizuki left the room. He had a hard time getting a good grip on just what type Mizuki was. He was friendly and teasing one moment, and then suddenly he’d change. Apparently, he’d tried to take care of Iruka after he’d gotten drugged, but Kakashi seemed to hate his guts, and Iruka trusted Kakashi, but he had no idea what Mizuki could have possibly done to warrant Kakashi’s hate. 

Iruka sighed, rubbing at his temples. This was just giving him a headache, and he decided to focus on something else entirely while he waited for the kids to get back from recess, needing a break from confusing. 

As it was distraction came moments later when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. As Mizuki left the room with a wave of a hand Iruka pulled up the phone and saw a not very flattering photo of Naruto, a selfie Naruto himself had taken and added as the caller ID. 

“Hi, Naruto,” Iruka answered.

“Dad! Hi! Got any plans next weekend?” Naruto asked, sounding excited.

“I… no, I don’t think so?” 

“Great. I am throwing Sasuke a birthday party, so you should come.”

“Does Sasuke know about this?” Iruka asked, smiling when he heard Naruto sputtering indignantly. 

“Of course he knows, he’s super excited.” 

Somehow Iruka had a hard time picturing Sasuke being super excited about having his home filled with people, but he was about to let it slide when Naruto continued. “Aren’t you, Sas’ke? C’mon, tell Dad how excited you are about the party!”

There were some shuffling, and then Sasuke’s calm voice. “Hello, Iruka.” 

“So, Naruto tells me you are very excited about the party?” 

Iruka swore he could hear Sasuke’s eye roll at that, and his voice was completely monotone when he answered. “Yes, so excited, cannot wait to have the apartment filled with drunk people, so much fun.”

“I thought your birthday was in July. I distinctly remember Naruto fretting very much about what to get you, and I know I bought a shirt for you.”

Sasuke huffed an amused sound. “Yeah, Naruto was talking about throwing a party for his birthday, and then I might have let slip that I’d never had a birthday party myself, so he figured I needed one asap, even if it’s two months late and I was very happy with just the birthday dinner I had. On my birthday. Two months ago.”

There were some more shuffling, then a faint yelp, and then Naruto was back on the phone. “See, I told you, we’re both excited. You’ll come, right?”

“Sure, Naruto, I’ll be there.”

Iruka wasn’t exactly the party type, but he wouldn’t think to disappoint Naruto by staying away. Naruto had never gone to parties as a teenager, being ostracised as he was, so it was no wonder he was excited about the possibility of two parties within a couple of weeks. Besides, it was probably going to be mostly Naruto’s colleagues, Iruka knew most of them at least somewhat, so it shouldn't be too bad. 

They chatted a while longer until the bell rang to signal the end of recess, and Iruka hung up, feeling immensely happy for his son. 

***

  
The week went by quickly, Iruka spending most of it at work, barely getting to see Kakashi because the other was occupied at work all evening with a string of meetings that had him occasionally send Iruka a message begging for mercy. 

Finally, it was the weekend, and Iruka rode the elevator up to Naruto and Sasuke’s apartment, a bottle of wine underneath his arm. Naruto had been very adamant that it was a birthday party, so he had figured he should bring a gift, even if he had gotten Sasuke a gift on his actual day. It had been difficult enough to buy something for Sasuke then, and Iruka had no idea what to get for someone who had enough money to buy anything they needed but also devoted their life to work and didn’t need much at all, so he’d settled for a decent wine. He figured Sasuke might appreciate the alcohol with two parties so close together. 

To be honest Iruka thought the party would mean more than any gift anyone would give Sasuke. Objects were one thing, Sasuke could always have acquired objects himself, but friendships and family was a whole other thing, and worth infinitely more. Sasuke might grump about it, but Iruka wouldn’t be surprised if he was silently pleased. 

He heard the music before the elevator doors opened, and soon found himself stepping into the apartment, yet again struck with just how amazing it was.

It seemed like most of the people were there already, sitting on couches and chairs, chatting amongst each other, music playing in the background. Iruka looked around but couldn’t see Sasuke or Naruto anywhere and flinched internally. For some reason, he didn’t think either of the two was above sneaking off together, even this early in a party. They’d been together for a while now but they only appeared to grow more and more in love, Naruto not afraid to show it with big words and bigger gestures, and Sasuke showing it in the tenderness in his gaze as he looked at Naruto when he thought no one would notice.

Then Naruto came bounding out of the kitchen, clothes on and hair not in any more disarray than usual, so maybe they hadn’t been up to anything. He spotted Iruka and bounced over, wrapping his arms around Iruka in a tight hug, squeezing all the air out of Iruka’s lungs.

“Dad!” he yelled in Iruka’s ear.

“Hi, Naruto,” Iruka said, squeezing back as good as he could, and then Naruto finally let go of him and he could breathe properly again. Naruto was nothing but smiles.

“I’m so glad you could come! Sasuke is in the kitchen, come say hi!”

Naruto didn’t open up for any discussion on the matter, grabbing Iruka’s wrist and pulling him along, across the room and into the kitchen where Sasuke was busy digging out bowls for snacks from the kitchen cabinets. When he heard the two of them enter he turned and gave a small smile when he saw Iruka.

“Hello, Sasuke, happy birthday,” Iruka said, holding out the bottle of wine.

“Thank you, Iruka,” Sasuke said as he grabbed the bottle. “There are drinks in the fridge, feel free to take whatever you feel like. Also, Naruto was in charge of snacks, so there’s probably enough to feed a small city.”

Iruka chuckled. He didn’t doubt that in the slightest.

Naruto seemed to have forgotten about Iruka already and had slung his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders, nuzzling into his neck. Iruka figured it was as good a time as any to leave them alone, taking a short detour past the fridge to get a beer before he walked back into the living room.

He knew all of Naruto’s unit members, although he hadn’t talked much to any of them, just meeting at various get-togethers. He hesitated, not knowing where to go, not wanting to intrude on anyone.

That’s when he saw him, outside on the balcony, back towards him, looking out over the city. Naruto had managed to drag Kakashi along as well, and Iruka found his feet carrying him towards him.

***

Naruto planted sloppy kisses up Sasuke’s neck, ignoring the way Sasuke was trying to wriggle him off of him.

“Sasukeee, lemme kiss you. You are my boyfriend, so it’s my right,” Naruto mumbled between kisses. It was terribly rude of Sasuke not to kiss him lots and lots.

“Naruto, you were the one that wanted to throw this party, you should be out there, entertaining the guests.”

“They can entertain themselves. C’mon, kiss me already, “ Naruto whined.

Sasuke sighed demonstratively, but turned around, kissing Naruto softly once. “There, ready to go back out now?”

“Nope!” Naruto grinned, throwing his arms around Sasuke’s neck and yanking Sasuke closer, slamming their faces together, definitely not happy with one small kiss. Sasuke might have complained, but he didn’t seem very opposed to the action, kissing Naruto back just as eagerly, and Naruto smiled into the kiss.

Finally sated Naruto pulled away, but kept his arms around Sasuke’s neck. “I’m so glad everyone could come tonight,” he said, thumbs stroking the back of Sasuke’s neck.

Sasuke’s eyes slid shut for a moment, head tilting down just enough to make it easier for Naruto to keep petting him. “Mhm,” he mumbled. Naruto knew he was happy as well though. He might not say as much in words, but Naruto could see it in his eyes, in the soft smile on his face. Sasuke was happy that everyone had shown up to his birthday party, that people cared enough to come.

“I wish everyone was as happy as me,” Naruto said, meaning it wholeheartedly. His life was good now. He lived with the perfect boyfriend, he was starting to become more confident in his control over the other side of himself, and his father had moved to the city a few months ago, which meant he finally had his family close again.

Sasuke looked up at him. “Are you happy? Even though I made you clean the bathroom earlier?”

Naruto snorted. “Yeah, yeah, bastard, I still like you.”

Sasuke leaned in and kissed his cheek. “We should get back out there.”

“Soon,” Naruto muttered, bumping their noses together.

Sasuke grabbed his hand, pulling him over towards the stack of bowls he had dug out of the cabinets, ready to be filled with snacks. He still had a wine bottle in his hand, but he placed that on the counter.

“Oh!” Naruto exclaimed as he saw the bottle, remembering who had brought it. “I was thinking, we need to find a boyfriend for dad. I feel bad that I have you, and he’s all alone.”

Sasuke looked back at him over his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure he’s working on that all on his own, Naruto.”

“Huh, he is?” Naruto was surprised, he had no idea his dad was even dating.

Sasuke must have seen the confusion on his face, and he turned around, an incredulous look on his face. “Are you for real? Haven’t you noticed?”

“Noticed what?” Naruto all but screeched, grabbing Sasuke’s shoulders and shaking him. Was he missing out on something huge? How could he, it was his dad, if he was dating someone Naruto should be the first to know!

Sasuke flicked his forehead, looking very unimpressed. “You are such a blond,” he muttered.

“Rude!”

“Are you sure you have no idea who I’m referring to?”

“Sasuke! Tell meeee.”

“I can’t believe I have to tell you this. Have you not seen the way Iruka and Kakashi look at each other?”

Naruto blinked. Twice. Thrice. “Wait, wait, what are you saying right now?”

“Iruka and Kakashi like each other.”

Naruto could feel the way his own eyebrows lifted in shock. His dad and… his boss? No way, that made no sense.

Sasuke just shook his head and shoved two glass bowls piled with chips into Naruto’s hands and pushed him in the direction of the living room.

“If you don’t believe me, just pay attention tonight, they are both here.”

***

This high up there was a cold breeze in the already cool autumn weather, and Iruka drew it into his lungs as he stepped out onto the balcony, the door sliding shut behind him. He made it halfway across the balcony before Kakashi heard him. Or maybe he’d heard him the moment he slid open the doors and only waited until now to turn around.

“Hello, Iruka,” Kakashi said, and even though all he could see of Kakashi’s face was a single eye and the bridge of his nose he knew Kakashi was smiling with the way the eye curved a little.

“Hello, Kakashi,” Iruka said back, pulling up next to Kakashi by the railing, looking out on the sprawling city so far beneath them. “The view is spectacular up here,” he said in awe. Iruka’s apartment mostly overlooked brick walls.

Kakashi hummed in agreement, gaze locked on some unknown point far off, and Iruka took the opportunity to look up at him. Even with the mask he could make out his features. The straight nose, the sharp jawline, the faint hint of where his lips would be.

He wished Kakashi would have felt comfortable enough to take off the mask around him, but apart from that one time Iruka had accidentally caught a glimpse of his face he had never seen Kakashi without the mask. He respected Kakashi’s privacy and didn’t try to sneak peeks whenever Kakashi ate around him, but Iruka had to admit that it was hard at times. He had to force himself to keep his gaze away.

“How was work today?” Kakashi asked.

“Oh, the usual. Three kids tried to use me as a tree to climb on and got offended when I wouldn’t let them. One kid threw up, and two others started crying in the middle of class, and I still have no idea why.”

Kakashi chuckled. “I don’t know how you can do that every day.”

“I could say the same about your job.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad, I don’t even go into the field often.”

“I didn’t mean the vampires. I was talking about the fact that you have to deal with that gang there every day.” Iruka nudged his head in the direction of the living room as Kakashi looked at him. They both glanced over their shoulders just in time to see Lee climb on top of the coffee table and Sakura yanking him back by the scruff of his neck.

Kakashi laughed, and Iruka found himself unable not to smile. Kakashi’s laugh was warm and pleasant, and he didn’t hear it often.

As he turned his gaze back to the horizon he was sure he caught Naruto staring in their direction, a weird look on his face, but he ignored it.

He mirrored Kakashi’s position, elbows resting against the banister as he leaned forward, enjoying the quiet, the city noises having faded to nothing more than a distant hum. He shifted a little and then realised that the movement had made his elbow slide to the side, just enough that it bumped up against Kakashi’s elbow. He didn’t move it away, let it stay there, and Kakashi didn’t move away either. The small touch felt oddly comforting.

“I wish I had a balcony. It wouldn’t have this view, but it would be nice to be able to go outside,” Iruka said. He opened all the windows during the summer, just to get a hint of the outside, but it wasn’t nearly as good. He wouldn’t have needed much. A small balcony, enough for a chair and some plants maybe. 

If only his teacher’s salary wasn’t so meagre he would have moved to a better apartment, but Naruto’s old apartment was cheap, and the city was expensive, so right now it was all he could afford if he wanted dinner every day. 

Maybe, if he got tenure and the safety of not suddenly standing without a job, he could look into buying something. Just a small place, maybe a little further out of the city. A tiny little house with a patch of grass. It would be nice, he thought, but for now, he made do with a shoddy apartment in a not-so-great area. At least he had made it feel homey, pictures on the walls, warm coloured fabrics on the couch and bed, soft carpets on the floor. It wasn’t all that bad a place to call home. 

“I have a balcony,” Kakashi said. “I don’t use it much though.”

“Such a shame.”

“I’m not home enough to. I mostly go to the apartment to shower and sleep.”

Iruka had barely seen Kakashi’s apartment. They never spent any time there, Kakashi always coming over to Iruka’s. It had been a bland space, pretty devoid of any personality. Which was maybe why Kakashi preferred coming to his place.

Iruka didn’t mind. He loved having Kakashi in his apartment, felt a little tingly every time he saw Kakashi on the couch, looking so at home, as if he belonged there, as if he didn’t want to be anywhere else. 

“I like your apartment more. Mine’s… bland. Your feels like home,” Kakashi said, and Iruka bit down on his bottom lip to try and stop the smile that wanted to spread on his lips. Kakashi thought his apartment felt like home. 

“You’re always welcome, Kakashi. I like having you there.” 

Kakashi looked at him. “I like being there. With you.”

Their gazes locked, and the tension between them was almost tangible. Iruka longed to lean closer, to pull down that cursed mask and just kiss Kakashi, but he wouldn’t do it. He respected Kakashi, knew there was a reason why Kakashi felt he had to hide behind it, and he would give Kakashi the time and space to decide for himself if and when he told Iruka. All Iruka could do was make sure Kakashi felt safe enough around him to do so eventually, that he would support him no matter what.

Kakashi was the first one to look away, and Iruka felt disappointment settle over him, no matter if he tried not to let him. He hadn’t felt about anyone the way he did Kakashi, and it was clear Kakashi felt something for him as well, but he was holding himself back because of this secret. 

Iruka had no idea what it could be, but he doubted that it would be bad enough that he wouldn’t accept him. probably some old fear that had rooted so deep in Kakashi that he felt unable to tell anyone. 

Iruka looked back over the view, leaning just a little closer, his shoulder against Kakashi’s, and Kakashi leaned into the touch, and for now, it would be enough. 

***

Naruto was a man on a mission, and that mission was to talk to his dad. He had been ready to march out onto the balcony and confront the both of them, but Sasuke had grabbed him by the neck of his sweater and told him off, and Naruto had pouted, but okay, he had understood that maybe interrupting Iruka and Kakashi was a bad idea. 

So he’d waited. Eventually they’d come inside, and he could jump Iruka then, demand to be let in on things. He’d had no idea there was anything between his dad and Kakashi, but then, after Sasuke had pointed it out, he had watched the two of them out on the balcony, standing close together, and suddenly there was no doubt in his mind. They belonged together, and if Iruka hadn’t told him anything it was because it wasn’t official yet, and Naruto was going to change that. He liked Kakashi, so he approved. He thought. He was going to have a long talk to Kakashi, make sure he was going to treat his dad like he deserved or Naruto would go savage on his ass. 

But that conversation could come later, first Naruto desperately needed to talk to his dad. 

It took forever before Iruka and Kakashi pulled away from each other and headed inside. Naruto was buzzing with energy at that point, and as Kakashi walked in the direction of the bathroom Naruto sprang into action. He latched his hand on Iruka’s arm and yanked him after him towards the kitchen, chasing Kankuro out so they’d have the room alone. 

“Dad, do you maybe have something to tell me?” Naruto started, and Iruka frowned a little, looking mostly shell-shocked by having been dragged into the kitchen. 

“Uhm, not really?” 

Naruto lifted his eyebrows high, giving him a look. 

“Dad. C’mon. You can tell me.”

“I have no idea what you want me to tell you about.” His dad looked genuinely baffled. 

“About you and Kakashi?” Naruto prompted, taking a step closer, eyebrows waggling a little, just enough to emphasise what he was trying to tell him. 

“I…” Iruka started, and Naruto could totally see the blush on his cheeks as he took a half-step backwards. 

“You guys are dating, and you didn’t even tell me,” Naruto said. To be honest, he was a little disappointed, he thought his dad and him had a relationship where they could talk about stuff like this. He didn’t need to hide it from Naruto. 

“I… uhm… we’re not… dating?” Iruka said. “We’re just… friends?”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “I saw the way you looked at him, all lovey-dovey like.”

“I promise you, we’re not dating.”

“But then you want to date him then,” Naruto said. Maybe they hadn’t gotten around to the actual dating yet, maybe they were just being weird around each other.  
  
Iruka didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms defensively, and looked away. 

Naruto just waved his hands. “Whatever. I know you like each other, I could tell at once, I’ve known for a long while and stuff. I just want you to know that I approve. Kakashi is a cool guy, and you are the best dad. Also, if he hurts you I’m gonna rip his head off, so it’s all good.”

Iruka looked a little taken back at that. “Ah, you don’t… have to do that,” he said.

Naruto pounded his right fist into the palm of his left hand. “You are my dad, and it’s my job to protect you, so you just tell me, and I’ll make sure he’ll regret ever having hurt you.” 

“Ah, okay, I’ll… make sure to do that,” Iruka said, giving a wavering smile in Naruto’s direction. 

Happy that he had both given his blessings and made sure his dad knew Naruto had his back Naruto just nodded, happy with how this had gone. He turned away and started walking back into the living room when he remembered something. 

“Also, Kakashi reads all these dirty books all the time, so if he tries any funny business just tell me, and I’ll make sure he’ll regret it.”

Iruka looked a little uncomfortable, weirdly enough. Naruto was just being supportive, his dad should be more appreciative. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, wasn't this a fast update for once? :p I have editing this as my Camp NaNoWriMo project, so hopefully, I'll get a couple more chapters out in April!


	6. Chapter 6

The sun had sunk far below the horizon and Iruka had long since finished his quick dinner and was well into looking through his current stack of assignments that his students had handed in earlier today. This was a massive change from when he taught teenagers. He’d have stacks of thirty papers at a time, each several pages long, and had to meticulously go through them with his red pen in hand. Now each assignment was three pages stapled together, simple writing exercises. It took a heck of a lot less time to go through.

He made smiley faces when it was clear the kids had been particularly thorough and wrote encouraging notes for everyone, even those who had filled out their homework in a hurry before running outside to play.

He was halfway through the stack when his phone made a sharp beep and Iruka didn’t even hesitate as he reached over the table and grabbed it to read the message. The only ones he ever got texts from were Naruto and Kakashi and he wasn’t about to keep either of them waiting for a response. 

Only this time it wasn’t Naruto, nor was it Kakashi. 

“Mizuki?” he mumbled to himself. The other teacher often sought him out at school to talk, but he hadn’t texted outside the one time he’d asked him to go to the bar with the others. Maybe they were having another outing? Or maybe some trouble with work? 

Iruka opened the message, stretching his back as he did, and it took him a moment to realise just what the text message said. He had to read it a second time. 

_I’m in trouble. Can you help, I have no one else to ask. I’ll explain everything in person._

Then there was an address at the bottom of the message, and Iruka quickly copied it and pasted it into Google Maps. He hadn’t lived in the city nearly long enough to recognise the street name, but the place in question was located in the outskirts of town, where apartment buildings made way for houses. Not a particularly shady area at all and not too far away. Maybe it was where Mizuki lived? Iruka didn’t think he’d ever asked about that and it seemed pretty likely. It wasn’t too far from the school, just a short car ride. 

But what had happened for him to reach out for help like this? It couldn’t be too bad, or he’d call the police, surely. They were coworkers, but Iruka barely knew Mizuki, had only known him for a couple of months, there had to be someone else closer to him that could help.

He hesitated for a moment before he brought up Mizuki’s number and called him. 

It picked up two rings in, a strangled voice whispered please, and then the connection was broken. When Iruka immediately tried to call back panic settled in as the phone went straight to voice mail. 

“Shit,” he said to himself. He had no idea what to do. Should he call the cops? But what if it wasn’t anything big at all, maybe Mizuki had just broken a leg and needed help getting to the hospital, and the phone was out of battery or something equally not emergency related.

Iruka was already pulling on his shoes as he debated what to do. He knew he would have to go over there, whether he did it alone or after calling in help, but he had no idea what he would find. Hopefully, Mizuki was just being overdramatic and everything was fine, nothing Iruka couldn’t deal with, but there was a nagging feeling of wrongness that had him hesitate. He could just go over there alone, but somehow he didn’t feel too comfortable with the idea. 

The door locked behind him and he pulled up another number on his phone, dialling it.  
  
“Kakashi? Are you busy?”

***

Unit seven’s shift didn’t start until eleven at night so Kakashi had been sitting in his office, spinning his office chair around as he procrastinated working through some old reports when Iruka called. The moment he realised Iruka wanted help he was already on his way out of the office, heading down to the garage and his car. He was a little whipped and he was the first to admit it.

Iruka had not asked him for help directly, but he told him what Mizuki’s message had been and that he was heading over there. There was no way Kakashi would let Iruka go there alone. Not because he didn’t think Iruka wasn’t capable, but they had no idea what had happened to prompt the plea for help. Also, Kakashi didn’t trust Mizuki further than he could throw the dude. Actually, scratch that, he could probably throw the guy a fair few feet and his trust was all but nonexistent. 

He’d made Iruka promise him that he wouldn’t head over there on his own and since Iruka didn’t have a car he agreed to wait. It would have taken him longer to get there by bus then it took Kakashi to come to pick him up. Kakashi had a feeling Iruka didn’t want to go alone anyways. Smart move. The kind of move that kept you alive. 

He’d inputted the address Iruka had been given into the GPS of his car and as soon as Iruka climbed into the passenger seat he headed in the direction of it. Iruka seemed happy to see him but didn’t say much, a worried look on his face. He tried calling Mizuki again, but it appeared that Mizuki’s phone was turned off. 

Mizuki better pray that something was wrong because if this was all some kind of trick Kakashi was personally going to castrate him. He wouldn’t even need a knife to do it, he’d yank his balls clean off his body. 

It was all too suspicious. A vague message asking for help, not saying anything regarding why. No _I’m hurt can you take me to the ER_ , or _Someone broke into my house_ or anything of the sorts, which wouldn’t have taken much time to write.

And considering Kakashi had seen the way Mizuki looked at Iruka—like Iruka was nothing more than a tasty delight for Mizuki to try out—no Kakashi didn’t trust him one bit.

“We’re close,” Kakashi said. According to the GPS, they’d arrive in a couple of minutes. “Maybe you should try calling him again?”

Iruka looked over at him and nodded. He kept his phone on speaker as he dialled, and they could both hear how it immediately went to voice mail now as well, the phone having been turned off. 

With nothing else to do Kakashi followed the directions until they arrived at the correct address. He turned into the short driveway and did a quick survey of the house. A small one-story house, painted a greyish white, garden overgrown with weeds. If this was Mizuki’s house he wasn’t one for home improvements. The place looked shabby, even more so considering the pristine state of its neighbours. It wasn’t a particularly fancy area of the city, didn’t have the precision-cut hedges of the upper classes, but they all looked well-cared for. Family homes for lower-middle-class families probably. Not exactly what he would imagine a single dude in his twenties to live in. 

They both exited the car and shoulder to shoulder they walked up the pathway to the small porch and the entrance. There were soft lights from a couple of the windows behind drawn curtains, so it looked like someone was home, but when they ran the doorbell no one answered, and there were no sounds of anyone moving inside. They looked at each other, and Kakashi was the one who ended up reaching for the door handle, testing it.

The door swung open. 

“Hello?” Iruka called inside. The front room seemed pretty deserted. A dingy couch and a small coffee table were about it as far as furniture came. 

There was no answer and Iruka made to step inside, but Kakashi’s arm shot out, grabbing his bicep to halt him. 

“Let me go first,” he said. He saw that Iruka was about to argue, but just stepped around him and headed inside. He heard an exasperated sigh from behind but ignored it in favour of looking around the room. He had a hard time believing anyone lived here. No pictures on the walls, no random coffee cups placed on the table. Just the couch and its table, the rest of the space empty, just faint outlines on the walls where bookcases had once stood and frames had hung.

“Are you sure this was the address?” he asked Iruka, and Iruka pulled up his phone, confirming that this was what Mizuki had sent him.

“I don’t think he lives here. Does he have a drug problem? Because somehow this looks more like a place where you’d deal in drugs than live.”

He could just about feel Iruka’s glare on the back of his neck. Iruka had picked up on Kakashi’s dislike for Mizuki and he didn’t seem to approve.

“He’s a fourth-grade teacher,” Iruka said dryly.

“What, you don’t think teachers do drugs?” Kakashi turned around.

“Let’s just check out the rest of the house,” Iruka said, clearly not wanting to continue the discussion. 

They hadn’t even gotten into the next room when the front door slammed shut behind them. They both swung around, and Kakashi would have blamed the wind if not for what happened next. A hum seemed to go through the house as if someone had struck it with a massive tuning fork, and the floor vibrated underneath them. It felt like the floor at a concert, only there was no music. 

Then the vibration cut off immediately, leaving them standing in an eerily quiet room. It took Kakashi a moment to realise what was so wrong. All sounds were cut off beyond the sound of their breathing. No faint hum of car traffic. No dogs barking or people walking by on the street.

He looked towards a window, but couldn’t see anything but impenetrable darkness. 

Iruka was looking just as surprised as Kakashi felt, and Kakashi had a bad feeling about the situation. He turned away enough that he could lift his eye patch and look around with both eyes. His retina stung in the sharp light of the bare bulb hanging just over their heads, but soon his vision cleared. 

The room looked ordinary, but when Kakashi looked at the windows he saw something different. It wasn’t complete darkness, but a shimmer. Like the heat above a parking lot in the middle of summer, a movement more than something substantial. Kakashi should be able to see the street light and the buildings opposite the one they were in, but there was nothing. 

He pushed the patch back in place as he walked over to the front door. He wasn’t surprised when the door didn’t budge as he tried the handle. It was unlocked, but no matter how hard he pushed it would not swing open. 

The window he tried next yielded the same results. He couldn’t budge them, even when he put all his muscles into it and was sure he was about to tear the glass right out of its frame. It was as if it was solid, not even creaking a little as he yanked at them. 

“What’s wrong?” Iruka asked, stepping close, one hand on Kakashi’s shoulder.

“I think we’re locked in here. We may have triggered some trap when we walked inside, activating a force field around the building. It’s magic, and we won’t get out by brute force.”

“Then… how do we get out?” Iruka said. He sounded calm still, and Kakashi was glad. Panic wouldn’t get them anywhere.

“I don’t know, but I’m starting to think Mizuki wasn’t truthful when he messaged you earlier.”

“You think Mizuki did this? Lured us to an abandoned house and locked us behind a force field?”

“No, I think he lured _you_ to an abandoned house and locked you in it. I never liked how he looked at you.”

“I don’t think Mizuki would do this, it makes no sense. That would be kidnapping, why would he want that?”

Kakashi levelled a look at him. “You’re not that naive are you?” 

Iruka’s nose scrunched up. “I think there’s more to this than that, I can’t believe Mizuki would use magic to kidnap me just to keep me locked up here as some sex slave?” 

“It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened, Iruka. You have no idea how much shit happens that never reaches the public eye.”

Iruka wrapped his arms around himself, seemingly shuddering a little. “Then what do we do now? Is there a way out?”  
  
“For now I guess we check out the rest of the house, there might be a way out elsewhere,” Kakashi said, walking towards the doorway across the room, stopping momentarily as he looked back over his shoulder. “I’m glad you called me, Iruka.”

“Yeah, me too,” Iruka said, following close to Kakashi.

They entered into the kitchen, but it looked as abandoned as the front room had. A single curtain hung from a rod in front of a cracked window and the refrigerator door was ajar, revealing its empty insides. 

It had to be a long while since someone had lived here, and Kakashi was certain Mizuki wasn’t living here. Maybe an abandoned house that was ripe for the taking. 

Something about this wasn’t adding up though. If Mizuki tricked Iruka to this house to lock him inside, then where was he? Had he hid because Kakashi came with? Maybe the forcefield was an automatic trap that he couldn’t stop, so he’d just taken off when he realised it was two against one?

What if Iruka had come alone, would Mizuki be here, waiting for him? Or was the trap meant to keep him here until Mizuki arrived at a later point in time? 

Mizuki was a teacher, where would he even have gotten the ability to erect a force field around an entire house? It was not an easy task that just every common magic wielder could do. Was he in league with someone else?

Kakashi had no idea what to make of this but figured their priority was to get out, and then they could start playing detectives as soon as Iruka was safe and sound again. 

Then he heard it, a soft scraping sound from further inside the house. He looked around the corner into the hallway that led off from the kitchen deeper into the house, most likely leading to a bathroom and a few bedrooms. One of the doors was slowly creaking open.

Kakashi took a step backwards, grabbing Iruka’s arm and yanking him behind himself. Iruka didn’t even protest, realising something was wrong. 

He kept his eyes on the opening door as they slowly backed their way towards the front room, where there was more room to move if he needed to fight.  
  
His hearing was better than that of an average human, so he picked up the sound of shuffling footsteps before Iruka did, but then brown-grey fingers wrapped around the door jamb, and Iruka could see that. 

“Kakashi, what is that?” he asked, voice low as if to make sure whatever was emerging from one of the rooms wouldn’t hear them.

Kakashi didn’t answer, because to be honest, he had no idea, not until the thing pulled free of the door and stepped into the hallway fully. It turned towards them with sluggish movements and it was no mistaking just what he was looking at. Not because he’d seen one in real life before, but because nothing else was quite like it. 

It was humanoid in form but looked like someone had taken a tall guy and covered him with thick layers of clay. It had hardened, and as it moved it left behind a soft trail of dust. 

“That, Iruka, is a golem.”

“A what now?”

“A golem. Clay and dirt made alive. A thing of magic, a mindless soldier that does its makers bidding. They are infamous for never stopping, they’ll keep working on their task until it’s either fulfilled or they are destroyed. 

“And what is its task?” Iruka said, voice a little shaky.

“Impossible to tell, but considering we are locked inside what seems like a trap with it I wouldn’t think it’s for anything nice.”

The golem tilted its head to the side, somehow appearing to look at them from a face with no features, just clay moulded into something vaguely human. It kept on moving towards them, and Kakashi knew that they were its target and that its job was most likely to stop either him or Iruka or both. And, considering the sounds Kakashi could make out, the golem had friends still waking up in that room it had come from. 

Kakashi knew he had to find a way to stop the golems, had to keep Iruka safe. Considering they were trapped behind a force field fleeing wasn’t an option, so attack it was. Usually going into the field Kakashi would have brought weapons suited for the situation, but all he carried now was a blade in the small of his back that he’d grabbed just in case as he left the office, and he knew it wouldn’t do much to stop the animated clay. Chop of an arm and they just made a new one. They felt no pain, could regrow any part of them, and there were only two ways to stop them. Either their maker called them back, or the part which had animated them had to be broken. To create one meant you had to make a sacrifice. And eye for an eye so to speak, magic was a bitch like that. From what Kakashi remembered it needed to be a part of the maker. A piece of flesh would do but was a little…impractical, so the norm was a vial of blood inscribed with powerful words. Destroy or remove the vial and the golem would return to the clay it had once been. The problem was to find a small vial in the hulking body when it was trying to actively kill you. 

Ideally, if Kakashi had been tasked with hunting golems, he would have brought a sledgehammer or two and smashed his way through them. It would have shattered the vial, but Kakashi had thought he was just going to stop a creepy dude, so he was ruefully unprepared. 

That had never stopped him before. He’d just have to do this the dirty way. His biggest fear wasn’t the golems, it was how to take them on while also keeping Iruka safe. 

A small part of him trying to make sense of why this was all happening, why Mizuki would have lured Iruka into a trap only to set golems after him. Iruka was human, if Mizuki wanted him dead it would have been as easy as a bullet. This was strange, but he had no time to wonder about it, because the first golem was stepping out of the hallway, and it had two buddies leaving the room behind it. 

“Iruka, drag the couch towards the corner of the room and hide behind it. I’ll stop the golems but I need you safe to do it.”

Kakashi saw Iruka hesitate as if he didn’t want to leave Kakashi alone, and however touching that was Kakashi needed to focus on the threat at hand. 

“Please, Iruka, I need to know you are safe, this is my job, let me do it.”

Iruka nodded sharply and then did as Kakashi had asked, hurrying towards the couch, and as Kakashi turned back to the approaching golem he could hear the scrape of the couch, and he relaxed just a little, his focus tuning in on the three golems. They were slow, but Kakashi knew that it just made them look deceptively easy to fight because they were unrelenting, and that was their strength. 

Kakashi crouched a little, hands fisted at his side, looking up at the towering beast. It’s arms lifted, drops of hardened clay raining down, and Kakashi sprang into action, knowing he had to win or else Iruka was doomed. 

***

Reluctantly Iruka jumped over the back of the couch and hid behind it. It felt wrong to let Kakashi take on three of those monsters alone, but he was right. This was what Kakashi was trained for, Iruka was just a teacher, he had no way to defend himself against those… things. 

He heard it the moment Kakashi engaged, a cracking sound that Iruka could imagine was a fist hitting a golem, and he could only hope Kakashi managed to stop them. 

He hated feeling helpless, so he did the one thing he could think of, pulled out his phone. If he could get hold of Naruto or Sasuke he could call for backup. He should have thought of it earlier, but he was a little preoccupied trying not to panic. 

His hands shook a little as he unlocked the phone and pulled up Naruto’s number, but as he pressed the green button it didn’t start ringing, the line dead. Iruka tried Sasuke’s number, but the same thing happened, and only then did he see that he had no connection, the phone line dead. 

The force field around the house must be blocking the signals, which meant that they were trapped here and no backup was on their way. 

Iruka pressed the back of his head against the back of the couch, eyes clenched shut as he heard the noises of the fight so close. He had no idea what he could do to help and he hated the feeling. It was a reminder that he was ruefully normal in a world of anything but normal. He hated feeling helpless and vowed that he was at least going to take self-defence lessons or something. Anything to give him some sort of edge. 

The room shook, and Iruka shifted around and carefully peered over the edge. He saw Kakashi smeared with grey-brown dust, the first golem having exploded all over the place, leaving nothing but small chunks. That left two of them. Unless there were even more of them hiding in that room. They had no way to tell for sure. 

Kakashi looked every bit the fighter he truly was, the way he slowly circled the room, eyeing the closest of the remaining golems, like a killer cat on the prowl. Iruka knew he would have been dead already if he hadn’t brought Kakashi along, and he’d never been happier for a decision in his life. 

Kakashi leapt, one hand swinging right at the golem’s head, but rather than hitting it and sending it backwards his hand went straight through it, knocking off half of its head in a spray of dust. It would have been a devastating blow to any other being, but only moments later fresh clay a muddy brown swirled into place and dried. It looked like nothing had happened to it at all, a new head where the old one had been. 

Kakashi didn’t seem fazed at all, just dodged the slow swipe of an arm from the golem, circling the clay beast as if he was looking for something. Iruka had no idea what it could be, but it was clear that Kakashi knew because when he faced the golem again he didn’t even hesitate as he shot his arm out, planting his fist deep in the thing’s chest. Before the clay had time to regrow he lashed out again, and when he yanked his hand back he was clutching something in his palm, and right before Iruka’s eyes the golem just froze, like a half-way destroyed statue. Hairline cracks spread over its surface, and then it fell apart in an explosion that had Iruka have to lift his hand to shield his face. 

Kakashi looked like a mess. He was covered in dust, and there was blood on his hands from where the skin had split open. If his hair hadn’t already been grey it would’ve been now with the amount of dust in it. 

Kakashi tossed whatever he had pulled out of the golem’s chest behind himself, and Iruka saw it land on the corner of the couch. It bounced, and it looked like nothing more than a small clay pot, some symbols engraved onto the side and a stopper on top. It rolled to the back of the couch and vanished from view, and then there was a loud crack as Kakashi tackled the next golem, and Iruka nearly bit his tongue off as he bit back a yell. 

It looked like it would be a short fight, Kakashi having no trouble taking out the golems, but then Iruka saw a fourth one exiting the hallway, and then a fifth, and suddenly the odds were less in their favour.

“Kakashi, there’s two more!” Iruka yelled out.

“I got it, just hide!” Kakashi yelled back. Iruka knew he should probably duck back behind the couch, but he couldn’t handle not watching, needed to know Kakashi was safe. Not that there was much Iruka could do either way, but it felt better to at least see what was going on. 

Moments later Kakashi took out another golem. He somehow wrestled it to the ground, and it went down heavy, and after a few well-placed stomps that had chunks breaking off, Kakashi’s boot went straight through its chest cavity and it froze mid-motion, hand inches away from where it had been swiping towards Kakashi in a swipe that would have sent him flying. The golems seemed strong, like a heavy chunk of ceramics hardened in a kiln. It shattered when enough force was implied, but it was strong and heavy. Iruka wasn’t sure at what point they died, but he wondered if it had anything to do with the small clay pot that Kakashi had pulled out of the other golem. Either way, whatever Kakashi was doing was working, but it seemed to be taking a toll on him. He was standing still, foot still planted in the remains of the golem, and Iruka could see Kakashi breathing heavily, could see his hands shaking just a little, blood dripping down his fingers. The golems must have gotten some good strikes in, because the shirt he was wearing was torn up over one of his ribs and Iruka could see scratch marks there, angry and red. There was no time for rest though, more golems lined up.

Iruka wanted to get out there, to help Kakashi, didn’t like cowering in hiding while Kakashi fought for their lives, but he knew he was more likely to get in the way than anything, having no experience fighting whereas Kakashi showed the years of training he had, and as Iruka watched Kakashi strike again, chunks of golem spraying like a cloud of dust, he knew Kakashi was on top of the situation. He relaxed a little, just in time for things to go to hell. 

Kakashi’s strike was true, punching its way through the chest of another golem, right where a person’s heart would be. Moments later the golem exploded in a shower of splinters and chunks, the force of it strong enough to shake the house, sending Iruka falling back on his ass, and by the time he got back up on his knees to peer over the edge the situation had changed. 

Another golem swung its arm, and Kakashi noticed too late, and the sheer force of all that clay hitting him like that sent him flying backwards and he hit the wall with a sickening thud. Moments later he slid down, ending in a slumped position against the wall, eyes closed. The golem neared his unconscious body, dust raining with every heavy step. There were a couple more golems that had appeared at some point, but they stayed by the side, waiting for the first golem to act. Iruka didn’t even think, he just acted. 

One moment he was cowering and the next he was jumping over the back of the couch, landing in a less than graceful position, yelling to get the attention of the golem, but it didn’t even stop its movement, so Iruka knew he had to do something else. He took a step closer, only to kick against a coffee table that he’d pushed to the side earlier when moving the couch. He eyed it for a second, then grabbed it by a leg, and firmly slammed it into the floor, breaking it, leaving him holding only a wooden leg. None of that composite wood crap from Ikea, but good old fashioned wood through and through, an improvised bat that felt surprisingly comfortable in his hand.

He’d never been the best batter, and he was only a teacher—not even a PE teacher at that—but he didn’t hesitate as he swung the makeshift bat. He’d seen Kakashi targeting the golem’s head, so he did the same, hoping it would do something to stop it. It was like hitting a brick wall. The wood splintered and the golem was left with a serious indent in its head, but Iruka could see fresh clay rise in the wound the moment he pulled the bat back, and now the golem was turning its featureless face towards him. Iruka pulled the bat back to hit again, and this time the wood just snapped in two as it hit the thing’s shoulder.

Iruka took a step backwards, eyes widening in fear as he looked up at where a face should be. He was close enough that he could smell the dry earth scent of the thing, and he had nothing even remotely like a weapon, and no idea what he was going to do to get out of this situation, and just as the realisation that he was in truly deep shit settled in him the golem stopped, and then Iruka startled backwards as something suddenly protruded from the thing’s chest only to be yanked back. 

Then the thing exploded and Iruka’s eyes flew closed and he stumbled backwards by the force of the explosion, feeling chunks of golem hit him. A piece got his cheek, and he felt the sharp pain of a cut. When he opened his eyes again Kakashi was standing where the golem had been standing moments before, hand clutching a small vial, chest heaving as he breathed. He threw what he had been holding to the side, and it smashed against the floor, red liquid mixing with grey dust. Iruka looked back up at him and was startled to see two eyes looking back at him. One familiar in its steely greyness, the other a bright red that had Iruka gasp a little. Not the red of a bloodshot eye, but an eerie brightness that seemed to shine and look straight through him. Was this the secret Kakashi had tried to hide from him? But what did it mean? Iruka knew Naruto’s eyes grew red when he shifted, so was Kakashi a shifter of some sort too? But why would he hide that, he well knew Iruka had no issue with that after all?

Iruka didn’t have time to contemplate for long, because the next thing he knew Kakashi’s eyes focused on something behind Iruka and they widened in fear. Iruka started turning around only to see the towering form of another golem right behind him. Somehow in the fight he’d been sent backwards until he was standing right in front of the hallway, and another golem had come, this one bigger than all the others, head so tall it almost dragged along the ceiling, and Iruka didn’t have time to even think about running, it was too close.

Then strong arms locked around his chest, and Iruka felt his body being moved, and then he was flying, landing a few feet away, blinking to clear his dazed head just in time to see that Kakashi had spun them around and taking his spot just in time to save Iruka, but not in enough time to fight. Clay arms as thick as Iruka’s thighs were wrapped around Kakashi’s torso, holding Kakashi close to the golem’s body. Iruka held his breath as he waited for Kakashi to break free, but no matter how much he seemed to buck against the grip the golem held him firm. And then Iruka realised that not only was he holding Kakashi. There was a loud cracking sound, and a line appeared down the entirety of the golem as if it was splitting in half. Out of the crack clay was moving, wet and dark, tendrils creeping over Kakashi’s shoulders and around his chest and legs as if the golem was devouring him whole. 

Iruka wasn’t sure if he screamed, but his head was ringing with rising panic. He had to do something, had to save Kakashi, but what could he do? He’d been useless against the golem earlier, Kakashi having saved him, but this time it was Kakashi in trouble.

Iruka swallowed hard, trying to push back the panic wanting to grab him. He had to keep a cool head, had to find a way out. He wasn’t this weak, he wasn’t going to go without a fight, and he was going to help Kakashi if it was the last thing he did. 

He clambered to his feet, trying to ignore the way they shook. The clay had almost taken over Kakashi completely, covering his body, only hands and head still sticking out.

“No!” he heard Kakashi yell as Iruka walked closer, but he ignored it. This was not a time to be cowering behind a couch, it was fight or die, and Iruka was damned well going to fight. 

He grabbed one of Kakashi’s hands and tried pulling, but it was impossible, the clay held him too strong, slowly becoming a sarcophagus for Kakashi. Thin strands of clay wrapped around Kakashi’s face, and Iruka knew he’d have trouble breathing, so he started digging off the pieces of clay, throwing them away, but it was a losing fight, more clay rising wherever he pulled chunks off. 

“The heart, break the heart!” Kakashi yelled in a moment where his mouth was clear before more clay pushed beneath his mask, muffling him. 

Iruka thought back to the small vial of something that he had seen Kakashi pull from their chest, and the one he’d smashed against a wall, and he realised that it somehow was the thing’s heart. There was no way he could have smashed through any of them, but this one had cracked open to reveal a soft interior in the process of capturing Kakashi, and it might be Iruka’s way in. He unwillingly let the clay keep capturing Kakashi as he pushed his hand against the chest of the thing, right above Kakashi’s head, just along the crack that had spread it open. The clay was thick and resistant, but he kept pushing, routing through it, digging deep, searching, searching, searching. 

Soon he couldn’t see Kakashi at all, and he knew he didn’t have long until Kakashi suffocated, and tears pricked at his eyes as he kept digging, and then, something hard against his fingertip.

He pushed deeper and then curled his fingers around something small, pulling his hand back, using all the force he had as the clay sucked him in, reluctant to let him go, but then he was free, and he didn’t hesitate as he threw the thing he had pulled free against the floor, seeing it shatter in a small spray of dark red, and then he was thrown backwards as the golem exploded. He scraped his face along the floor and felt his shoulder catch on something, but he didn’t spare a moment to care as he scrambled to his knees, twisting back to see Kakashi lying on the ground, absolutely drenched in clay. 

The ground shook and rattled as if there was another earthquake, and Iruka crawled towards Kakashi, hands going to his face, pulling away the remains of clay stuck to it. With all the dirt it took Iruka a moment to realise that underneath all of it Kakashi’s face mask was gone, and Iruka was brushing against skin and not fabric. 

“Come on, Kakashi, please wake,” he muttered as he removed clay that covered Kakashi’s face, just needing him to breathe, needing his mouth free if he needed to do CPR. There was no time to care about Kakashi’s secrets now, he could only hope Kakashi would forgive him for it later. Not that there appeared to be much of a secret underneath the mask, just a sharp and slightly stubbled jaw and soft lips. Nothing that needed hiding. 

He startled a little when Kakashi’s eyes flew open and his lips parted, dragging in a sudden hard breath, and the joy of seeing him alive was almost enough to not have him notice what Kakashi had been hiding all along. 

Fangs. 

Kakashi had fangs. 

Not like a shifter. Two deadly sharp fangs, long and vicious. Exactly like a vampire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, this feels like an excellent place to stop the chapter actually. :3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New tag added at the end of the list if you want a CW before reading.

Kakashi was four when he lost his parents. He didn’t remember much about the day, just that his aunt came to pick him up from Pre-K, eyes red and voice thick, telling him that he was coming home with her and his uncle. He kept asking about his parents, and they told him that they had passed on, that there had been a car accident. Kakashi hadn’t believed them, because why would his parents leave without saying goodbye? They always said goodbye.

Eventually, he started to realise that _passed on_ meant dead and that they weren’t coming back ever and that all that was left was a rock with their names in the middle of a field of other rocks just like them. He missed them, but life moved on.

When he got older and started school he could hear adults whisper about how he was withdrawn, quiet, weird, and how maybe he’d grow out of it. Kakashi wasn’t sure what they meant but even at six years old he knew he wasn’t like everyone else. The other kids screamed a lot and ran around and didn’t listen to the teacher. Kakashi preferred to sit quietly and do his work and when recess came along he longed to be back inside the classroom where the teacher at least tried to keep order.

He didn’t have friends as the other kids did, but he didn’t mind. He learned how to read so he could vanish into a book and that gave him an excuse not to talk to people, and he thought everything was fine, but then, when Kakashi was eight, someone came tumbling into his life and everything started to change.

Kakashi had been sitting in a corner of the playground with a book in his lap, trying to tune out the screams and noise of the others kids when there had been a movement in front of him, and before he could look up something fell on top of him, bending the pages of his book all wrong.

It was another kid, one he hadn’t seen before, with dark hair sticking up every which way and a bandaid smack in the middle of his forehead.

The other kid got to his feet, crawling out of Kakashi’s lap and grinning down at him. “I’m sorry,” he said, but Kakashi didn’t think he believed him, he didn’t look sorry at all.

He was ready to go back to his book, ignore the other kid and move on, but then the other sat down next to Kakashi, lifting the front of the book to peer at the cover, nose scrunching up.

“It looks boring,” he stated, and Kakashi instantly knew that he wasn’t going to like this kid.

“I’m Obito, I just moved here last week! Want to play soccer with us?” the kid said, and Kakashi wanted to ignore him but he mumbled out his name and declined the invitation. The kid shrugged and Kakashi thought that meant he’d go back to the match, but he just kept sitting there side by side with him.

That was the first time he met Obito and the tentative beginning of their friendship/rivalry.

Kakashi was ten the first time he realised Obito wasn’t exactly like him. He was coming home with Obito after school, something he’d never done before, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the kitchen in their small house. Drying herbs hung from strings that crisscrossed across the ceiling. Copper pans were boiling on the stove, billowing out thick purple smoke that smelled of lavender and bubblegum. A black cat scowled at him from its perch on top of the kitchen table, tail flicking, too-intelligent eyes watching them.

“Are you witches?” he asked Obito and Obito just shrugged as if it was no big thing.

“Yeah. My mom makes healing potions and dad works as an accountant, but he’s great at tracker magic.”

Kakashi read a lot so he knew about witches, but he didn’t think he’d ever met one before.

“Does that mean you are a witch too?” he asked, suddenly intrigued.

Obito blushed at that, looking away and mumbling something Kakashi couldn’t make out.

“What?” Kakashi asked.

Obito pouted as if he didn’t want to repeat himself. “I said that I’m technically a witch, I just… don’t have any powers yet.”

He looked embarrassed. Kakashi wasn’t sure when witches were supposed to manifest their powers but he guessed it was supposed to be earlier than the ten years Obito was. It didn’t matter much, Obito had been his friend before Kakashi knew he was a witch, he would be his friend after he knew he was a witch with no powers.

They were twelve the first time Obito loudly declared that he was going to be a DPA agent when he grew up. He tried to talk Kakashi into becoming one with him but Kakashi didn’t see the appeal in spending his nights hunting monsters. Obito huffed and called him chicken shit but Kakashi didn’t care. Obito had called him worse and he’d called Obito worse in return.

The summer when they were thirteen Obito finally displayed his magical powers. His parents threw him a party and Obito claimed it was dumb, but Kakashi could see how proud he was as well as how much he liked the attention. Kakashi brought him a small present (that his aunt had bought because Kakashi hadn’t even thought about buying anything).

Obito excitedly pulled him into the backyard to show off his newly discovered powers. To Kakashi it didn’t seem like much, some blue sparks dancing in Obito’s palm, but Obito looked so happy so Kakashi was happy for him. Obito told him that this was just the beginning, that Obito’s powers would keep growing and he’d probably be like the strongest witch ever. Kakashi just nodded, because what else could he do. Obito had always been one for exaggeration.

Their teenage years passed. They hung out a lot, biking around the neighbourhood, or watching movies or doing homework together. Obito’s powers grew a little stronger much to Obito’s joy, and Kakashi grew taller than Obito much to Obito’s dismay. Obito talked a lot about the cute girls in his class, and at some point, Kakashi realised that he didn’t care about girls in the way Obito did. He told Obito as much and Obito just shrugged, and things were the same between them.

Obito graduated high school and started college, but still not much changed, because the college was just twenty minutes away. The year after Kakashi graduated as well, and he’d applied and been accepted to the same college that Obito attended, because why wouldn’t he? 

Obito was still set on being a DPA agent, and Kakashi didn’t yet know what he wanted to be, but it was summer and they were both on vacation, and it didn’t matter.

The days were long and warm and they spent them cooling in the shade while eating ice cream or curling up inside in front of fans. Obito told him stories of college life, and Kakashi didn’t believe them all, but it didn’t matter, because Obito was happy, and they were best friends, and they had the entirety of their lives in front of them.

It was Obito’s idea that they head outside when he got bored of watching TV. It was late enough at night that the sun had set, leaving the air pleasantly warm, so Kakashi came along. They could take a car but that defeated the purpose of doing nothing, so they walked instead, trudging down familiar sidewalks, no goal in mind, just walking and talking and enjoying the summer night.

Their feet took them in the direction of the park on the outskirts on the town, the thought of the small lake there drawing them in. There was nothing quite like a midnight dip to end off a perfect summer day, and they were both young and didn’t have any fears in life yet, didn’t even consider that this might be the last thing they ever were going to do. Obito was nineteen, and Kakashi would turn eighteen in a few months, and life was an endless stretch of time before them, what could possibly go wrong?

Everything. 

Everything could go wrong.

They walked down a path through the trees and just as they saw the glimmer of the lake in front of them they heard the first sound. They didn’t react at first. Kakashi thought maybe it was just other people out to take a late-night dip as well and his main concern was if they were skinny-dipping girls, because Obito would probably faint if that was the case, he was sure of it.

But the sound wasn't girls out for a swim. 

The first they saw was a flash of red, two sharp points to their side, and it took them yet another moment to finally get scared for real.

The town they grew up in was fairly small in the scale of things, had never seen a lot of supernatural activity. Sure, there was Obito’s family, and people were sure that old lady Christianson was a cat shifter, but that was about it, so they’d never feared much growing up. They’d learned about stranger danger but they had never been prepared for what to do when suddenly faced with a vampire. Not that anyone can ever be prepared when facing certain death.

So they ran. 

They took off in unison as if they’d planned it, heading back towards the streets where there were houses and people and help, but vampires were not just bloodthirsty, they were fast as well, and Kakashi and Obito had just reached the end of the trees when Kakashi felt himself being yanked backwards by the neck of his shirt. One second he was running and then he was toppling backwards. It took a second before Obito realised but then he skidded to a halt and turned around, and the sun had set, but Kakashi could still see the fear on Obito’s face, and Kakashi knew that the hand curled around the fabric of his shirt was the vampire’s, and he might never have seen a vampire before, but Kakashi has read a lot, so he knew what happened now, knew he was done for, and he would have thought that realisation would have terrified him but he felt strangely calm. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end, but you don’t have much of a say in how life ends anyways. His parents weren’t supposed to die in a car crash when he was four, but they did, and life moved on. He wasn’t supposed to be killed by a vampire at not quite eighteen, but life would move on for everyone else but him.

“Run,” he said, surprised at how calm his voice was.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Obito didn’t run.

Just as Kakashi felt fingers curl around his jaw, strong as steel, impossible to escape, a look of determination settled over Obito’s face and Kakashi suddenly remembered all the times Obito had told him of his dreams.

_I’m going to be a DPA agent and I’m gonna save people. Innocent people don't deserve to die, and I’m going to do what I can to help them._

Kakashi knew Obito meant it, had the determination to go through with it, would make an excellent agent in the end, and Kakashi had intended to be there to support him along the way. Now it looked like he wouldn’t be able to.

Kakashi could see fire in Obito’s eyes, he wasn’t about to let his friend get killed without doing what he could to stop it, but Obito wasn’t an agent yet and he didn’t have weapons and this foolish bravery was only going to get him killed, and Kakashi didn’t want that. Couldn’t allow that.

“Run,” he said again, voice rising just as the vampire dragged Kakashi’s chin up and to the side, and a part of Kakashi knew exactly why, that this way his neck was exposed, vein probably pulsing with the way his heart was pumping blood through his system, and he knew it would only be a matter of moment before he died.

He tried fighting, accepting that he was going to die but not ready to give up. He kicked backwards, and squirmed, and tried punching, but the vampire’s other arm had locked around his chest like a band of steel, and no kick seemed to deter it at all.

“Let him go!” Obito yelled, and Kakashi could only watch, hoping Obito would run the moment he realised there was no saving Kakashi, but he didn’t believe Obito would.

There was a strange scent in the air, like burning metal and for a moment Kakashi thought it was the vampire, but then he saw the blue lightning across Obito’s hands and he knew Obito was drawing on the one weapon he did have, his magic. He also knew that Obito wasn’t a strong witch, that he struggled to control what powers he did have on a good day and this was not a good day.

Kakashi could hear the vampire hiss, and then Obito was running forward, fist drawn back, electricity trailing around it like some magical fighting glove.

He threw a punch at the vampire, and the vampire dodged, dragging Kakashi along like a rag doll, and Obito attacked again. The vampire seemed a tad annoyed at best. Its hand moved up to hold Kakashi more firmly, one around his chest, the other wrapped around his face, but Obito just twirled around and attacked again, making sure he didn’t accidentally hit Kakashi.

The hesitation of that might be just what ended up giving the vampire the upper hand. It used Kakashi as a shield, and Kakashi couldn’t stop it even as his fingers clawed at the vampire’s hands, dragging bloody marks down the skin.

The vampire hissed in Obito’s direction and let go of Kakashi with one hand, using the other to grab for Obito. Kakashi got tossed around, and the vampire’s hands tightened around him. As he bit at it, trying to get free the vampire snarled, and as Obito attacked again it lost its grip enough that Kakashi could try to squirm away.

He felt the sharp pain of the vampire’s nail digging into his skin to stop him, and then it tightened its hold again, and that finger dragged down his face, nail hard and sharp as fangs, and Kakashi yelled in pain as it left a burning line of pain from his forehead and down across his eye.

The vampire seemed to lose what patience it had. It had probably not expected two teenagers to fight back the way they were, and it threw Kakashi to the ground and turned all its attention on Obito. Obito punched, but from his position on the ground, half-dazed and half-blind, Kakashi saw the way the vampire grabbed Obito by the neck, ignoring it when Obito’s hands curled around its head. The flesh of the vampire’s face sizzled and burned, but then it threw Obito away and there was a sickening crack as Obito’s back hit one of the trees and he crumpled to the ground.

Kakashi immediately started to crawl over, but he only got halfway before there was a weight on his back, shoving him to the ground. Air left his lungs in a wheeze as the vampire settled on top of him. Kakashi’s face was turned towards Obito and he tried to see if Obito was still alive, terrified that the vampire had snapped Obito’s back or neck, but he thought he could see Obito’s chest move, so there was still hope for his friend.

The same couldn’t be said about himself, and no matter what he did he couldn’t stop the vampire from leaning closer, could only feel the rotten breath against his neck, and the first scrape of teeth. Then fangs sunk deep, piercing his skin and digging into the vein, and Kakashi knew this was the end, that he would die tonight. He wasn’t scared, not for himself, he just laid there, eyes locked on Obito, begging for him to get up and get away.

He only got his one wish. Obito groaned and soon he was getting to his feet, but of course he didn’t run away, because he was Obito, and Obito wouldn’t run away from something like this, would fight until the end.

_Why have no one heard us, why are no one coming to help,_ Kakashi thought, wanting to scream for help but not finding the air to do so.

He knew he was going to die, that tomorrow his aunt and uncle would have to go to the morgue, identify his pale body and bury him next to his parents. Before he could even consider how they’d react the air was filled with the scent of copper and something was pushed towards his face. Kakashi was growing a little dizzy so he didn’t immediately realise what it was until something sticky smeared on his lips, something that tasted unmistakably like blood.

At first, he thought it was his own, but then he realised that there was a wrist pressed to his lips and that there was a ragged cut across it, blood leaking from it, and some part of Kakashi knew that the vampire had opened a vein on its arm and was trying to feed Kakashi vampire blood, and Kakashi knew what that meant, that tomorrow his aunt and uncle wouldn’t have a body to identify at all, but rather that tomorrow his body would be inhabited by another soul, a vessel for a demon to use to spread its evil, and the thought terrified him in a way dying didn’t. He fought harder against the vampire, but the vampire was strong, and Kakashi needed to breathe. With the way blood was smeared all over his face he knew some of it had found its way inside his mouth, the taste of it thick on his tongue and there was nothing he could do as life slowly drained from him.

He’d been too distraught to realise what was happening only a few feet away, but suddenly he saw crackling blue out of the corner of his eye and as he kept trying to spit out what blood made its way inside his mouth he looked up.

Obito’s hands were outstretched, palms facing the ground, and electricity travelled up his body as if he was drawing it from the very earth itself. Kakashi’s eyes widened, for one moment in total awe at the display of power that was unlike anything he had ever seen from Obito before, and suddenly he was struck with the thought that Obito hadn’t lied, Obito was powerful, could be the most powerful witch of his generation.

Then Obito lifted his hands, palms towards Kakashi and the vampire, and a bolt of iridescent blue shot from them, piercing through the sky before it struck the vampire, throwing him off Kakashi altogether. The air stank of burning flesh.

Kakashi curled over on his side, one hand lifting to press towards his neck where he could feel his blood still pulsing out between his fingers. He could see the vampire behind him, or at least the remains. The electricity had reduced it to little more than a pile of ash, and Kakashi relaxed a little. At least Obito would be safe.

Kakashi tried to lift his head but the forest started spinning around him, so he stayed on the ground, blinking with heavy eyelids, trying to clear his vision. It didn’t work, the world seemed to grow grey around him and he knew what that meant. The vampire had ripped open his carotid artery and it was still bleeding heavily, and Kakashi knew he was dying. Obito had killed the vampire but it was too late, and Kakashi hated that Obito would have this tormenting him.

Obito fell to his knees next to Kakashi and Kakashi couldn’t even lift his head to look at him, only saw his knees, bare and dirty. Obito wore shorts all summer and he kept falling off things, leaving his knees permanently scuffed, as if he was five rather than nineteen, and it was almost funny, that the last thing Kakashi would see in his life were knobbly knees.

There was something different about his knees this time though. The skin looked almost translucent, blood veins defined underneath them, looking bluer than usual as if the blue electricity was flowing through Obito’s entire body.

Obito pushed Kakashi’s hands away from his neck and placed his palms over the bite wounds, even though they both should know it was futile.

Kakashi finally managed to lift his head enough to look at Obito’s face and he was surprised with what he saw there. He was expecting a worried face, maybe tears, because Obito was always quick to tears, but his look was completely stony, looking nothing like the Obito he knew. It was almost as if someone else was inhabiting his body. Something powerful and inhuman.

Kakashi tried to say his name, but all that escaped his throat was a broken croak. Obito didn’t even react, just pressed his hands firmer to Kakashi’s neck.

Kakashi wasn’t afraid of dying, but he was afraid of waking up again.

He coughed, drawing on what strength remained in his body.

“Kill me,” he whispered, voice raw. “Make sure I don’t come back as one of them. Cut off my head, stake me, anything.”

The words took a lot out of him and his head collapsed back to the ground, vision again filled with nothing but knobbly knees. Obito still did not respond, just kept his palms against Kakashi’s skin, and suddenly Kakashi realised that heat was flowing from the palm, soothing waves of heat travelling over his neck and down his back, but it was too late.

He coughed once and closed his eyes, and with a ragged sigh, Kakashi died.

***

The first thing that pierced through the fog of his mind was a rhythmic beeping, and he focused on it, let the sound drag him out of unconsciousness. He blinked open heavy eyes and immediately scrunched them shut again, the room too bright, searing his retinas. Instead, he focused on breathing and trying to orient himself, using his hearing rather than his eyes for now. The only sound close to him was the constant beeping but he heard other sounds beyond it. Voices and footsteps. Someone screaming. Squeaky wheels. 

The air smelled of disinfectant and Kakashi soon concluded that he was in the hospital. The beeping would be a heart monitor most likely, and it would also explain why it felt like something was tugging on the back of his hand when he tried to move it.

He kept his left eye closed and carefully peeled the other opened. It didn’t feel nearly as bright this time so he could look around and saw that his conclusion was right. He was lying in a hospital bed underneath a window, a curtain separating him from most of the room. He didn’t know if there were anyone else in the room, but he didn’t think so. 

He tried to open his other eye but was blinded by light again, so he kept it closed. He wasn’t sure why the left eye was more sensitive than the right, but he’d probably get answers when he found out just why he was here at all. He couldn’t remember anything happening, had no idea why he was in the hospital. Must have been some accident or something. Maybe he’d hit his head, had a concussion that had wiped out his memory of whatever happened?

He tried peering around for a way to call someone so he could ask what was going on when the door to his room opened. He heard footsteps nearing and then a nurse rounded the curtain. There was a smile on her face, but it seemed tight and forced. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun and the fingers of one hand were tugging at the hem of her scrubs as if he was nervous. She didn’t come close to him, just stayed at the foot of the bed.

He heard shuffling footsteps, heavier, booted feet more likely, and realised someone else had come into the room with the nurse, someone who was staying on the other side of the curtain.  
  
“What happened?” Kakashi said. His throat was dry, the words catching. 

“There was an accident. We’ll tell you more later, I’m just here to check up on you for now. How are you feeling, are you in any pain?” 

Kakashi shook his head. He felt a little sore, but mostly he was just tired. 

The nurse came closer, but she seemed hesitant to get too near. Kakashi wondered what was wrong. 

“Your heartbeat is strong, so that’s good. We’ll give you fluids for a while longer, just in case. I’ll just measure your temperature now, so if you turn on your side, face towards the curtain.”

Kakashi did as he was told, shuffling around until he was looking right at the curtains. He could see the faint shadow of someone just on the other side, and he wondered who they were. It could be another doctor or nurse, but why would they be hiding from view, wouldn’t they have come along with the first nurse to check his vitals?

He felt fiddling at this ear and laid still until a small beep sounded and the nurse stepped away again. When he turned over to his back he saw that the nurse was several feet away as she noted down the temperature on a chart. Kakashi wondered if he was somehow contagious or something because she seemed adamant to stay as far away from him as possible. 

“Okay, you just rest now, someone will be back soon,” the nurse said and left, not even giving Kakashi the time to ask for a glass of water for his parched throat.  
  
It took him a moment to realise that the other person hadn’t left along with the nurse. He heard the creaking of leather as whoever it was shifted a little on their feet, and he could smell the tiniest trace of aftershave. 

He wasn’t sure if he should pretend he didn’t know they were there or if he should ask what they were doing, but he ended up lying there in silence, figuring that if it was important then they would let themselves be known. The nurse wouldn’t have left someone who wasn’t supposed to be here with him. 

Maybe he had been hurt by someone and the person was a cop stationed there to make sure he wasn’t hurt further? 

He wished he could remember what had happened, he felt like he was missing a chunk of his memory, like something important was gone. 

All he could remember of yesterday was hanging out with Obito, walking down the streets of their town, and then everything was just… grey.

As time dragged on and the other person made no move to make their presence known Kakashi found himself dozing off, eyes growing heavy. He was probably drugged up on something so he wasn’t too surprised. He didn’t fight it as he fell asleep. Hopefully, someone would answer his questions when he woke next.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he blinked his eyes again. The sun must’ve set, because there was no sharp pain of sunlight in his left eye and he could look around the room with ease, spotting his aunt sitting in a folding chair across the room, face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking. 

“Auntie?” Kakashi croaked out. His throat felt rubbed raw and he wished he had some water, but more than that he wanted answers.

She lifted her head at his voice. Her eyes were red-shot and there were streaks of dried tears down her face. She pushed to her feet and walked towards him, but then she froze in the middle of the room as if she was suddenly unsure if she should approach him. 

“Auntie, what’s wrong?” Kakashi asked, feeling frustrated that he had no memory and that something was wrong. Why didn’t anyone want to get close to him, what had happened?

“Oh, Kakashi,” his aunt said, taking another step forward. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m thirsty,” Kakashi said, and his aunt flinched away at that, and it made no sense, but he continued anyway. “Could you find some water, maybe?” 

She vanished out the door almost as quickly as the words left Kakashi’s mouth and he instantly regretted it because he wanted the answers more than the water.

Luckily she came back a few moments later with a water bottle in her hand. She walked towards Kakashi, stopping a few feet away, and then all but threw the bottle onto the bed next to Kakashi.  
  
Kakashi was still confused but the bottle was so cold there was condensation on the outside, so he just unscrewed it and didn’t stop drinking until it was empty. 

“Better?” his aunt asked.

“Yeah,” Kakashi said with a nod.

She made no move to keep the conversation going, and it didn’t take long until Kakashi grew tired of waiting. “Auntie, I don’t remember, what… what happened?”

She was wringing her hands together, taking a half-step backwards. “Oh honey, I’m not sure I should…”

“Tell me, please,” Kakashi implored, desperate to know why he was in this hospital bed. 

His aunt looked to the side and he realised that the person from earlier hiding behind the curtain was still there, and she had to be silently asking for permission to answer Kakashi because soon she nodded to whoever it was and turned back to Kakashi. 

“There was an attack, Kakashi, can you remember?”

Kakashi frowned, trying to think back, but there was nothing but blankness where an attack would be. “I can remember walking down the street with Obito, and then just… nothing.”

Obito. Where was he? Wouldn’t he come to visit Kakashi in the hospital? Kakashi would have thought Obito would have dragged his sleeping bag with him and put up camp in the corner of the room, but he didn’t appear to be anywhere around. It wasn’t him across the curtain, the other person smelled all wrong for that. 

His aunt hesitated. “There was a vampire, Kakashi. It… it bit you.”  
  
Kakashi’s hand immediately flew to his neck, expecting wounds, or at least bandages, but he felt nothing but smooth skin—

He frowned, rubbing the tips of his fingers over his neck again. There were two ragged bumps along one side, lumps of scar tissue, just far enough apart to be from eye teeth. But, if the wounds had already knitted into scars, he must’ve been here for a long time.

“When was the attack?” he asked, and his aunt hedged for a moment until she told him that it had been two days.

Two days. That made no sense. His skin wouldn't have knitted an open wound into scar tissue in two days. Clearly, the attack had been stopped seeing how he was alive, but the vampire must’ve gotten a good chunk out of his neck.

He had to drag the rest of the story out of her. It came in bits and pieces, clearly a mix of what she’d been told by various doctors and police officers. A vampire had attacked him and Obito in the forested area around the lake. Kakashi had been bitten and badly wounded, and Obito had killed the vampire. 

Still, there was something she wasn’t telling him. So, he’d been bitten by a vampire. If he was still alive two days later it meant that the vampire hadn’t turned him, so why would they be afraid of him? Kakashi had read enough to know that when vampires turned people the person died and their body became a vessel for a demon soul, and Kakashi was no demon, he was still himself, so Obito had saved him. But where was…

“Where’s Obito?” he asked, and he swore he could see his aunt’s pallor go a little paler at the mentioning of his name. She didn’t answer. “Where. Is. Obito?” he asked again, more desperate to know. The look on her face told him something was wrong. Had Obito been hurt as well? Where was he, Kakashi needed to talk to him, maybe Obito remembered more.

“He… he died, Kakashi,” his aunt finally said, voice small.  
  
No.

NO.

He couldn’t have died. He’d saved Kakashi, why would he die? Obito was too bright and full of life to die. He had plans with his life, was going to be a DPA agent and change the world for the better. He couldn’t die at the age of nineteen because of one lousy vampire, that wasn’t fair, that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

He couldn’t believe it, wanted to scream or cry, but he found that he couldn’t do either, so he just kept asking his aunt to tell him everything, growing frustrated when she kept telling him she didn’t know much, that no one knew exactly what had happened.

Kakashi didn’t sleep that night, cursing the black holes in his memory, desperate to know everything that had happened that night, to know where he had failed to keep his friend safe, to figure out why he lived and Obito didn’t.

It took still another two days before someone filled in the blanks. It wasn’t his aunt this time, but another woman. She had blond hair in pigtails, and no matter how hard Kakashi tried he couldn't place her age. She could be twenty or she could be forty, it was impossible to tell.  
  
She came into his room one afternoon when he’d been alone with his thoughts for hours, and although she wore plain clothes, jeans and a green cardigan, there was something about the way she carried herself that told him that she was someone important.

She pulled a folding chair close to his bedside and sat down, and maybe that was what marked her as different. She wasn't afraid to get close to Kakashi at all, just sat down next to him as if it was nothing.

Kakashi still hadn’t been able to figure out why people were so wary of him, they dodged the question, waving it off every time he posed it, and eventually, he had given up. He had other things to worry about after all.

“Hello, Kakashi,” the woman said, crossing her arms underneath her ample bosom and leaning closer, head tilting a little to the side as if she was assessing him. “My name is Tsunade and I work for the DPA.”

Tsunade stayed with him for two full hours, filling in all the holes from Kakashi’s memory, told him what he had forgotten about the evening Obito had died. Over the last days, Kakashi had gotten some memory back, but it was disjointed pieces, making little sense. While she was telling him his memory came back, bit by bit falling into the right place until he could remember it, the vampire, how its fangs had hurt, how Obito had fought to save Kakashi, how he’d killed the vampire, but Kakashi had been bleeding out.

Kakashi had thought he was going to die, but something had happened after, something that left Obito the one dead and Kakashi the one alive.

“Obito was a witch, you know this,” Tsunade said, and Kakashi nodded. “His parents told us how they knew he had great potential but had never been able to unlock that. It seems like the fight to save you did just that and he tapped into all his potential, at once. That much power… it can be overwhelming for anyone, and with the way Obito pulled magic from the earth itself to fuel his own… The park was destroyed in a hundred feet radius, all the trees and plants dead as if he pulled the very life force from them.”

“I remember seeing the electricity he pulled from the earth, I didn’t think it was that strong,” Kakashi said, trying to think back, but as far as he had noticed the nature around them had looked as before when he had blacked out. 

“No, the fight with the vampire wouldn’t have done that kind of harm. It would have left him drained and hurting, but he’d recover from that. No, the thing that killed the trees, and ultimately Obito himself, was the fight for your life.

“When a person dies with vampire blood in their bodies then that blood act as a beacon for a demon to cross over from the demon realm. It doesn’t take a lot, and you’d been force-fed more than enough blood so when you died, the curtain between our worlds ripped, and a demon started taking over your body as its vessel.”

“Wait, I… died? But, that can’t be.” Kakashi looked at Tsunade in disbelief. He knew that much about vampires, and he also knew that no demon had taken over his body, because he very much still had his soul, could think and act, hadn’t moved on to wherever a soul went after death at all.

“The process of taking over a human body isn’t a quick one, it can take hours, which is why those that hunt vampires always make sure that any victims are made unable to rise again. There are several hours between a person’s death and a vampire’s rise, and the only way to stop that process from finishing is to damage the body, by severing the spine or destroying the heart. In other words, make the vessel inhospitable.”

Kakashi knew he should appreciate how frank Tsunade was, how she didn’t treat him like a kid not ready to hear the truth, but he was having a hard time making sense of everything. Either he hadn’t died and had stayed human, or he’d died, and his body would have woken up a home to a demon, but Tsunade had decidedly said that he had died, so he shouldn't be alive right now. You couldn’t revive someone who passed on with vampire blood in their bodies, that was common knowledge. 

“Obito probably knew as much, but he was already high on magic, wouldn’t have been thinking clearly, so instead of mourning your death he must have decided to save you. By all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t have been possible. We’ve never heard about this happening ever, and believe me, I’ve been digging through the archive ever since I heard about this case.

“Obito pulled life force out of nature, channelled it through himself and poured it into your body. We don’t know how much was him, or how much was just pure magical instinct, that much magic would have most likely have taken on a life of its own. Anyways, somehow, through sheer luck, he acted fast enough, and with enough power, and somehow he managed to sever the connection to the demon realm before the transition was through. Our scientists have tried recreating this for the last few days, but they are… baffled. Obito might have done the impossible and revived you after death and we’re not sure anyone can do it again.” 

Kakashi was almost gaping at her at this point. This sounded like some fairy tale and he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around Obito doing all that. Obito who had been his friend for years, who snored like a sailor and didn’t do too good in school and who kept falling for girls that wanted nothing to do with him. Obito who had been pouting for years because he couldn’t do magic and that still hadn’t been very good at it when he finally learned how. And now Obito had gone and done something no one else had ever done before?

“But why did he… die?” Kakashi asked, still struggling to comprehend that at no point was Obito going to shove through the doors to Kakashi’s hospital room to bug him. God, he would have been so unbelievably smug pulling off a feat no one else could do.

“The magic, it was just too much, too fast. His body wasn’t ready to channel all that power. He wasn’t in any pain, he would have just collapsed after the magic drained from him.”

Obito had sacrificed his own life for Kakashi, and he probably hadn’t even been aware that it was what he was doing, he had just acted, because that was what Obito did, he didn’t think things through, he just _did_ them, and Kakashi had scolded him for it in the past, but Obito had just laughed at his worry because somehow things had always worked out. Only, this time it hadn’t.

The room was quiet for a moment, Kakashi staring up into the ceiling and Tsunade letting him have the time to compose himself again. Kakashi had the feeling she had more to tell him, but he had no idea what else that could be.

“Kakashi, have you noticed anything different since you woke up? About yourself?” she eventually said.

Kakashi turned his head and looked at her. The lights in the room were dim, but he’d still kept one eye closed, not even thinking about it by now, just finding the artificial glare of lamps too harsh for the left eye.

“My eye, it hurts with the light,” he said. “Also, people seem afraid of me but no one will tell me why.” 

“Have you looked in any mirrors since you came here?”

Kakashi thought back and realised that no, he hadn’t actually. There was a small bathroom in the room, but there was no mirror over the sink. He remembered thinking it strange, there seemed to have been one there at some point, screw holes in the wall above the sink, but he had just figured the mirror had broken and no one had thought to replace it. He hadn’t much wanted to see how he looked anyways, guessing he probably looked grey and tired and sad.

Kakashi shook his head to answer her question, and Tsunade held out a small pocket mirror she must have brought with her. Kakashi frowned, not sure what he was about to see, but took it from her hand, flipped it open and hesitantly brought it to his face. His eye was still shut, but he could see a ragged scar running down from just above his eyebrow to his cheek, cutting right over it. He thought he could remember the vampire doing it, but things were still a little jumbled in his mind.

He lowered the mirror and tilted his head to the side, looking at the two puckered marks on his neck. They weren't the neat dots you’d think from a vampire’s fangs, but a little elongated and ragged, as if the vampire had dragged its fangs out, tearing open his skin on the way. 

As he looked at himself Tsunade had risen and vanished around the curtain, and soon he realised why as the overhead lights turned off, leaving only a small light on the nightstand. 

“Open your eye, Kakashi,” Tsunade said as he stepped back around the curtain, stopping by the side of his bed. 

Kakashi hesitated another moment, then slowly peered his eye open, looking into the mirror, not knowing what to expect.  
  
Where once he’d had steel-grey eyes something different stared back at him in the mirror. Bright even in the dim light his iris shone a vivid red. Not the red of broken blood vessels, but the true red of…

He yanked the mirror away, and it flew from his hand, skidding along the floor, probably breaking. His hand flew up to cover his eye as if that would change anything. 

He’d seen red eyes like that before, shining at him like pinpricks of flame from behind dark trees, right before he was attacked, right before his whole world fell apart. The eyes of a vampire, looking back at him in the mirror.

“What… what am I?” Kakashi asked, hands shaking, terrified of Tsunade’s answer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Obito. :C :C (I did not remember having ended this chapter on a bit of a cliffhanger as well, ops! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soonish!)


	8. Chapter 8

Kakashi coughed hard as he tried to drag air into aching lungs. Moments before he’d been in the utter darkness of a clay coffin and now he was lying on the ground, covered in sticky clay but able to breathe blessed air. He could feel the clay all the way up to his sinuses, but he didn’t even care at this point. Wiping away most of the mess from his face he finally looked up at where Iruka was sitting, collapsed on his ass in front of him. 

Iruka’s eyes were wide in shock and there were specks of clay on his face, and still, Kakashi had a sinking feeling that the shocked look wasn’t because of the golems because Iruka’s eyes were locked on him and nothing else, and in that instant Kakashi realised that not only would Iruka have seen his eye, but his mask was gone, lost in the fight, and Iruka had no doubt seen his fangs. Fangs like only one humanoid species on this planet were known for. Maybe the red eye could have been explained away, but combined with the fangs?   
  
Iruka was smart, he would realise just what Kakashi was, and then he’d run, like so many others.  
  
His aunt and uncle had hated what he had become. The nurses at the hospital had been afraid of him. And now Iruka would be too. Kakashi got to his feet and took a few steps backwards, not wanting to scare Iruka off just yet, wanting to give him room to feel as safe as possible.

Maybe he could have explained and made Iruka realise, but like this, exposed in the after a fight where Iruka had been pushed to do stuff he shouldn’t have had to do, fighting for both of their lives, Iruka wouldn’t be able to accept it now. How could anyone? Kakashi’s world was so far from Iruka’s, Kakashi’s was only death and pain.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” Kakashi said, looking down at the floor. “I think the force field vanished when the last golem died, so you should be good to leave now.”

He’d rather allow Iruka to leave calmly than see him flee from him in panic. Didn’t want the last he saw of him to be the fear of being locked inside with yet another monster, not when they’d just taken out a group of golems together and barely made it out alive. 

He was going to miss Iruka. How smart he was, how kind he was, how beautiful and how strong. He’d stood strong against magical forces and saved Kakashi’s life where others would have cowered and hidden, and he’d done it seemingly without batting an eyelid. He took care of people, had so much love for others.

He’d leave a hole in Kakashi’s heart when he left, one Kakashi wasn’t sure he’d be able to mend again.

He heard footsteps, and he steeled himself for the pain that was going to envelop him as that door swung shut after Iruka. 

Then he saw a pair of scuffed sneakers stop right in front of him and then Iruka’s hand was at Kakashi’s chin, making him lift his head to look at him. 

“Is this what you’ve been hiding?” he asked, and his voice was so calm as he reached out to cup Kakashi’s cheek, one thumb stroking over his left eye, across the puckered scar that bisected it. 

Kakashi nodded, and Iruka’s hand moved down a little, thumb now resting on his lip. “Can I see?” he asked.

Kakashi’s lips fell open, mostly in the utter shock that Iruka not only wasn’t running away from him but also that he seemed curious more than scared.  
  
“They look sharp,” Iruka noted. “Can they retract or are they always like this?”

“They are always like that,” Kakashi said, voice wavering a little, shocked at what was happening.  
  
“So that’s why you wear the mask, to make sure no one accidentally sees them.” 

Kakashi nodded again. 

Iruka looked at him for a moment, and there was no fear in his eyes, just a soft kindness. “I don’t know nearly as much about these things as you do, but these, they are.... vampire fangs?”

Kakashi hesitated, then he nodded again. 

“I didn’t know this was possible, I’ve always heard that all vampires are these evil demons.”

“They are,” Kakashi said.

Iruka frowned. “You’re not though.”

Kakashi looked away. “My aunt and uncle thought I was. They were terrified of me. Other people too, nurses and doctors at the hospital when I.. Became this.”

“I’ve known you for a long time now, Kakashi, I know you are not evil. You are nothing like them. You still have your soul, you are still human.”

Kakashi had no words, shook to his core by the calmness and acceptance in Iruka’s voice. When he looked back at Iruka and met his eyes there was no trace of fear in them, only kindness, and maybe curiosity. His own family who had known him since he was a baby, had raised him for most of his life, had been terrified of what he had become, and they’d never seen him hurt anyone, but Iruka was here, moments after Kakashi tore apart a group of golems with his hands and he showed no fear whatsoever. 

How Kakashi loved this man. This kind, caring, accepting man. How he’d ever doubted that Iruka would be the one to see this side of Kakashi and see past the violent parts to the human parts, saw goodness where Kakashi had once suspected there was none, because how could he be good if people were so terrified of him, how could he ever be worthy of love when his flesh and blood didn’t want anything to do with him and Kakashi saw the pure relief in their eyes when he walked out of their lives?

Iruka’s hand suddenly grasped Kakashi’s. “Come one. Let’s get out of here, yes?”

Kakashi looked at the mess the room had become, littered with the remains of the clay beings, and he couldn’t have agreed more. He tightened his fingers around Iruka’s and let himself be pulled to his feet. It felt good to lend some strength from someone else, felt safe. 

***

The door to the house opened easily, the force field gone as if it had never been there, and nothing was stopping them from stepping out into the small front garden. The night air was wonderful after the smell of clay that had ended up saturating the living room.

They walked to the sidewalk, pausing there. It felt somehow odd that the world outside was calm, as if they hadn’t just been trapped and fighting for their lives. “Should we call someone?” Iruka asked. He didn’t know much about how the DPA worked apart from what Naruto told (and that was mostly exciting stories about hunting down vampires, probably exaggerated half the time.)  
  
“Yeah, let me, yeah,” Kakashi said, shaking his head as if he was trying to clear it. He pulled a phone out of his pocket, dialled a number. He ran a hand through his hair as he waited for the person on the other side to pick up, and Iruka saw how Kakashi winced as he pulled a chunk of drying clay out of his hair.

He looked like… a mess, if Iruka was to be honest. There were still chunks smeared on his face and soaked into his clothes, and he looked like he’d need to be cleaned by a power washer to get it all off. Iruka wasn’t as bad considering he’d hidden away for most of the fight, but his underarm and hand were covered in the drying mass, and it was pulling on his skin like a face mask left too long. When he grimaced he could feel traces on his face as well. They both desperately needed showers and fresh clothes, and then they needed to talk more.

Iruka wouldn’t lie, it had been a shock to finally see the side that Kakashi had taken such care to hide from him. It was clear Kakashi thought he was to be feared, that someone had taught him that he was a monster and if that didn’t just bring Iruka right back to when he’d adopted Naruto. People had feared Naruto too because they didn’t know better or didn’t want to know better. It’s easier to fear what’s different than to accept it.

He still had no idea what had happened to Kakashi. As far as Iruka knew all vampires were demons, but that wasn’t the case with Kakashi or Iruka would have been dead long ago, having spent plenty of evenings alone with him. No, Kakashi was something else, and Iruka knew him well enough to know that Kakashi was good, and he wasn’t going to let this change that. 

He wanted to know more though, to better understand Kakashi, and because, well, okay, because he was curious.

Iruka didn’t pay much attention to the phone call, just enough to understand that Kakashi called in a quick report about what had happened and then hung up. He stood half turned away from Iruka, face turned up as if he was bracing himself. Iruka had a lingering feeling that Kakashi was just expecting for him to flee, that he had expected that all along. It was why he had guarded his secret for so long, fear of what people would say, how they would react. 

“They are sending a team to investigate. They’ll try and figure out where the golems came from, see if they can track the magic behind the golems. Someone tried to lure you into that house to kill you, we need to figure out who, and why.”

Iruka froze. With everything that had happened he had almost forgotten just why he had found himself locked up in there in the first place. The phone call from Mizuki asking for help. It was a trap, and Iruka had been prepared to walk right into it. Never had he been happier he had decided to call in backup or he’d be dead right now, crushed or suffocated by golems, beings he hadn’t even known existed until today. 

His stomach churned, and he very nearly lost his dinner. 

“The phone call, it was from Mizuki,” he said. “But I can’t see why he would…”

Kakashi looked at him. “Kurenai’s team will investigate, they’ll figure it out. In the meanwhile, I don’t think you should be alone, in case he decides to try again.”

Iruka wrapped his arms around himself, feeling out of his depth. He’d never had much trouble being human, even having a son like Naruto, stronger and faster than he could ever dream of becoming, but right now he felt weak and powerless, and he didn’t like it. 

“I can drive you to Sasuke’s apartment, you can stay with Naruto and him tonight,” Kakashi said. He looked tense, shoulders hitched up high, hands fisted at his sigh. 

Hesitating a moment Iruka took a step towards him. “I’d rather be at home,” he said. “I’d feel safe if you were there for me.” 

It was part to reassure Kakashi that he wasn’t afraid of him, and part pure selfishness. He wanted to be near Kakashi, did feel safer with him. 

Kakashi turned fully towards him. His red eye was clenched close, but his face was still unhidden by a mask, and it looked odd to see him like this. Iruka had gotten so used to the black mask that it felt a little like looking at someone else entirely. He could see flashes of sharp teeth when Kakashi spoke, so he realised just why he was always wearing it, people would have noticed immediately otherwise. It was nice to see him like this too, though. To see the cut of his jaw, and his lips and his nose. Underneath the clay his skin was the paleness of skin never exposed to sunlight.

“Are you sure?” Kakashi asked, sounding genuinely surprised. 

“Yes, please,” Iruka said, no doubt on his mind. 

They drove back in silence. Iruka’s mind was spinning. He’d been so close to dying today, would have been a goner if it hadn’t been for Kakashi. It made it real to him what Naruto and Sasuke went through every night they stepped out on the street. Sure, they were better trained than Iruka could ever hope to be, but still. They went up against the most dangerous of foes, just to make everyone else's lives safer.  
  
And now someone was targeting Iruka and he had no idea why. He couldn’t understand why Mizuki would want him dead like that, it made no sense. It had to be someone else, someone using Mizuki to get to him. But who, and why? Iruka was a teacher, the worst he’d gotten before were parents calling him to complain about a grade he’d given one of their students. And that’d been when he taught in high school. Now it was all finger painting and learning the alphabet. 

And beyond his work, Iruka wasn’t much. He hadn’t lived in the city long, didn’t know many people beyond those he knew through Naruto, and his colleagues. When had he ever been able to make enemies?

He was still trying to make sense of things when Kakashi pulled into a parking spot not too far from Iruka’s apartment and they made their way out of the car and down the sidewalk. Iruka noticed how Kakashi seemed wary, looking around to ensure no one was close. 

Iruka did feel safe with Kakashi around. Kakashi had saved his life today, and he had no doubt Kakashi would do it again if the need arose. 

Still, it felt good to enter the apartment and lock the door behind him. 

“Wait here,” Kakashi said, and then he made his way through the apartment. Iruka quickly realised he was making sure it was safe, that there were no more monsters lurking in the bedroom, or other traps waiting for him. 

Iruka swallowed hard, overcome by a surge of fondness for Kakashi. Iruka was so used to taking care of others, it felt nice to have someone taking care of him for once. 

The apartment was small, so it didn’t take Kakashi long to make sure no traps were waiting for them and he came back into the living room, hesitating. He lifted a hand and rubbed at the back of his head, gazing away, almost looking like he expected Iruka to throw him out.

“Shower,” Iruka said, and Kakashi’s gaze snapped to him, eyes widening. 

“Uhm, we could need showers. You know, to get the clay out,” Iruka added when he realised how it sounded. “You can go first, I’ll get you some clothes to borrow, yours are probably beyond saving at this point.

Kakashi glanced down his front, saw the mess.“Ah, and I liked these clothes too.”

Iruka’s lips twitched into a small smile for the first time since he’d stepped into that cursed house. He made a shooing motion at Kakashi. “Shower now, before it gets so hard we have to chisel it off. Please use my shampoo, I think your hair is more brown than grey right now.” 

Kakashi threw his hands up in surrender and strolled into the bathroom, and a couple of minutes later Iruka heard the sound of the shower turning on. Iruka tried not to think about the fact that Kakashi was naked only a few feet away and headed into the kitchen to scrub his hands clean as well as he could. There was clay packed and hardened underneath his fingernails, so it wasn’t an easy task, but soon he deemed them clean enough to root through his wardrobe in search of clothes. 

Kakashi was taller than him but leaner, so he’d probably fit into most of Iruka’s clothes, but to be sure Iruka settled on a pair of sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, hesitating a little before he added a pair of boxers as well. The clay had probably saturated whatever Kakashi wore, and he wasn’t sure what Kakashi’s stance on going commando was. 

He grabbed a fresh towel as well and headed towards the bathroom. The shower was still running, so Iruka knocked. There was no answer, so he hesitantly opened the door, intending to leave the clothes on the side of the sink and get out again. 

It was purely accidental that he happened to glance up as he did, and not his fault that he didn’t immediately look away. Kakashi was standing with his back towards him, and even though the water was beading on the shower cabinet doors Iruka could make out a toned back and a firm ass, and he knew he should leave the bathroom, but it still took him a few too many seconds to make his body comply. 

He closed the door and leaned against it, pressing his palms to his cheeks, feeling the heat of a blush on his cheeks. This was beyond dumb, he was acting like a flustered teenage girl. He was well into his thirties, seeing an (albeit remarkable) ass shouldn’t affect him like this.

He blamed the fact that he had mostly been celibate for years, too busy with work and raising Naruto to date. Not that there had been very many prospects back where he came from. He was still seen as an outsider for having taken in Naruto, and being a gay weirdo didn’t exactly make you a very popular man in the dating scene.

With a huff, he pushed away from the door. He needed to get a grip. Maybe focus more on the fact that he had just learned that Kakashi was a vampire or at least something vampire adjacent. He was sure he was meant to freak out, Kakashi clearly thought he should, but he just couldn’t find it in him to do so. 

He knew what a vampire was, a demon possessing a dead body, evil through and through, and he also knew that it was not what Kakashi was. Not just because there was no way he would have been able to get away with that working in the DPA, but because Iruka knew him. Kakashi wasn’t evil. He was maybe a little socially awkward, sure, definitely hard to read at times, but not evil. If he’d been a vampire Iruka was sure he’d have ended up dinner months ago, and his neck was still very much free of any vampire bites, and he didn’t think that was about to change any time soon. 

There was more to the story and he wanted to hear it, wanted to know more about Kakashi, but he also didn’t want to push. It had to be a difficult thing to talk about for Kakashi and Iruka didn’t want to pressure him into sharing something he wasn’t ready to share. He’d already been pushed to reveal his secret by circumstance, Iruka didn’t want to make it worse, no matter how curious he was. 

In an attempt to distract himself Iruka headed back into his bedroom to pick up more clothes. He wasn't nearly as dirty as Kakashi had been, but he desperately needed a shower. He could feel tendrils of his hair clinging together where small chunks of clay had dried, so he knew he hadn’t come away anywhere near clean either. 

The door to the bathroom creaked open, Kakashi walking out, Iruka’s clothes on, and a towel around his shoulders. His skin was flushed where he’d scrubbed it, extra noticeable without the mask Iruka was so used to seeing him wear. His hair was still wet, but already it was starting to defy gravity, too stubborn to stay down. 

“So, the shower is free?” Kakashi said, tugging at the bottom of the t-shirt.

“I’ll be quick, so just hang around?” Iruka said. “Maybe put on some water if you want tea or coffee?”

Kakashi nodded and headed towards the kitchen, naked feet padding over the floor. 

“If you get cold there are socks in the top drawer of my dresser, I forgot to bring them,” Iruka added and then closed the bathroom door, eager to get out of his clothes. Kakashi’s were in a pile on the floor, and his own soon joined, all of it destined for the garbage. He didn’t want to even start the attempt to get the clay out, would rather buy new clothes. 

The hot water tended to not last very long, so he made quick work of his shower, shampooing twice to ensure his hair was clean. Then he got dressed, rubbed most of the water out of his hair and fastened it up in a lazy bun in an attempt not to drip water all over the place. 

When he came back into the living room Kakashi was leaning up against the kitchen counter, two tea mugs next to him. Iruka grabbed one and headed towards the couch, settling down with his legs crossed. Kakashi lingered by the kitchen until Iruka pointedly told him to come sit. He eased down on the very edge of the couch, pressed up against the armrest, leaving plenty of room between them, so unlike how they usually sat. Iruka would be hurt, but he knew why Kakashi did so, that he still seemed to wait for Iruka to be afraid of him, to chase him away.  
  
Resolutely, Iruka placed his tea mug on the coffee table and turned on the couch, one knee pressing against Kakashi’s thigh. Kakashi flinched, but Iruka made sure to keep the contact between them. 

“You can tell me however much you want, but know that I’m not going to run away from you.”

“Sometimes I have a hard time believing you are real, Iruka,” Kakashi said. “How can one man be so good, so trusting, so kind, and how did I ever deserve to meet you?”

Iruka reached out, hand going to Kakashi’s shoulder. This time he didn’t flinch, but his gaze dropped down to the hand in amazement. Iruka would contradict Kakashi’s words, knew the other thought much too highly of him, didn’t know how quick Iruka could be to anger at times. Iruka was not the saint Kakashi seemed to think him to be. This was, however, not the time for that. 

“Will you tell me what happened to you?” Iruka asked. It was strange to see Kakashi’s face bare, the mismatched eyes looking at Iruka, the scar running across the red eye and down his cheek. He’d seen the edges of the scar peeking above the eye patch before but hadn’t thought more about it. Kakashi’s mouth was closed, but Iruka remembered the fangs hidden behind those lips, and they didn’t scare him in the slightest. Maybe they should, but it wouldn’t be the first time he didn’t act as he was supposed to. 

“I was eighteen, it was the summer and I was just hanging out with my friend. We… were attacked. It came out of nowhere, red eyes and bared fangs. We were just kids, you know, we’d never even considered that we should be afraid of things like vampires.

“Anyways, there was a fight, the vampire bit me, fed me its blood. I… I died.”

Iruka’s eyes widened, hand tightening around Kakashi’s shoulder. That was pretty much exactly how one became a vampire, how had Kakashi managed to not?

“My friend, Obito, he… he was a witch. He kept saying he was super powerful, but he never learned to control his powers much. Turns out he wasn’t lying. He probably could have become one of the more powerful witches of his time, easy. I don’t remember any of this, I was already gone, but I was later told that Obito dragged the life out of the earth itself and channelled it into me. Typical Obito, stubborn enough not to let me stay dead, doing the impossible. He brought me back, severed the connection with the demon realm before the transfer was done. Whether the demon was pushed out completely or destroyed in the process I have no idea, but when I woke up in the hospital I was like this. Not quite human anymore.”

“Your friend, what… happened to him?” Iruka asked, dreading the answer. There was something about how Kakashi talked about him that made him fear it hadn’t had a happy outcome.  
  
“The magic, it was too much for his body, he… didn’t make it. He sacrificed himself for me. It’s why I joined the DPA. Obito had always wanted to become an agent so when he couldn’t I did it for him.”

Iruka didn’t even know what to say, knew that words wouldn’t help against the hurt that was so clear on Kakashi’s voice. It was clear Kakashi still blamed himself, years later, it wasn’t hard to read that between the lines. 

“No one knows what I am. There are the fangs and the eye, that’s obvious enough. I have heightened senses, the vampire left that behind too. I can hear the blood pumping in people's veins, and it’s disconcerting because I know why my body can do so, a part of it is made to hunt for that blood. I don’t crave it though, but it’s hard to get people to understand that, easier to hide altogether. I get a blood transfusion about once a year because my red blood cells slowly deteriorate.

“My aunt was the one who gave me the mask and eye patch in the first place. When I got released from the hospital and sent back to them… she just couldn't deal. She was terrified of what she saw, didn’t want to be reminded. My parents died when I was a kid, so my aunt and uncle were the closest things to parents I had for most of my life, and now they were both scared of me. She didn’t relax around me for a moment until I moved out.”

Never in his life would Iruka have guessed that this was what Kakashi was hiding, but it made sense. At first, he’d thought maybe Kakashi was hiding some kind of disfiguration, but this made a lot of sense. Kakashi had lost his friend and carried the guilt of that, and at the same time had been pushed out of what family he had. No wonder he was afraid to get close to people, anyone would’ve become messed up after that, would start to question if they were the evil thing they were seen as. Iruka had seen the same in Naruto, how he had been so confused as to whether he truly was the monster people saw him as. 

His hand lifted from Kakashi’s shoulder, palm gently pressing against Kakashi’s cheek, thumb tracing up the ragged scar that marred the otherwise flawless skin. Kakashi lifted his gaze, meeting Iruka’s eyes. The red iris seemed almost alive, like there was a fire within, making the red pulse, a stark contrast to the other eye, calm and steel-grey. It was a stunning contrast. 

He traced further down, crossing the line where the mask had made the skin paler than the skin above it, never letting the rays from the sun seeing the skin. It should look funny, but it didn’t, the slight difference in skin colour just another thing that made Kakashi Kakashi. 

Iruka moved on down, heard Kakashi draw a quick breath and hold it as Iruka’s thumb traced over Kakashi’s bottom lip, a little thicker than his top one. Kakashi was beautiful. 

He pulled down on the bottom lip a little, just enough to expose one fang. It looked sharp. Deadly. Iruka knew what damage a vampire’s bite could inflict on a person, had heard the tales, but he also trusted Kakashi so seeing it now didn’t scare him.  
  
Iruka remembered Kakashi telling him the fangs didn’t retract, and he was almost surprised not to see small nicks on the inside of Kakashi’s lips because they looked sharp. 

Kakashi was looking at Iruka with what appeared to be true wonder, and it emboldened Iruka enough to shift closer and then he threw all caution to the wind and swung a leg over Kakashi’s lap, letting his body do what it craved to do. No more time to hesitate now. Both his hands slid into Kakashi’s hair, pushing it away from his face. Kakashi’s lips were still just slightly parted and he looked up at Iruka as if he couldn’t believe what was happening, as if he was afraid to blink or the moment would be over like some mirage. 

“You are beautiful,” Iruka said. 

Kakashi finally blinked and then looked away. “People are afraid of me, of what I am.”

Iruka used a finger underneath Kakashi’s chin to push his face up until their gazes met again. “Do I look afraid?” he asked. “Do you think so little of me that you think I’d leave you because of this? You aren’t something to be afraid of, you’re a survivor. You are unique. You are good.”

Kakashi’s eyes were big in shock as if he couldn’t believe what Iruka was telling him, so Iruka figured he would just have to show him. 

His fingers were still buried in Kakashi’s thick mane of hair, so it was easy to hold him steady as he leaned in and pressed his lips against Kakashi’s.

Iruka wasn’t sure if Kakashi was just shocked, or hesitant, but it took him a few long moments before he reciprocated the kiss, pressing into it, head tilting to the side and his arms wrapping around Iruka to hold him close. It was everything Iruka could have ever hoped for, but Kakashi tore himself away all too soon as if he suddenly realised what he had been doing. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, voice a little shaky.

“Will getting nicked on your fangs hurt me beyond a small cut?” Iruka asked, letting his nails scratch along Kakashi’s scalp. He didn’t want to talk, he wanted to kiss, wanted to get everything he had longed for so long, wanted to taste Kakashi.

He leaned in and kissed Kakashi’s soft bottom lip. “Will a drop of my blood drive you mad?”

He kissed the corner of Kakashi’s lip. “Will it not be worth it?”

Kakashi tightened his hold around Iruka’s waist and pulled him close, and then he was kissing him again, hard and desperate, the answer obvious in his actions.

***

Kakashi was quickly losing himself in the taste and feel of Iruka. Soft lips against his, a warm weight in his lap, strong fingers carding through his hair. Iruka was everything he could have ever dreamed of and more. A beautiful man, body and soul, who cared for him and saw beyond what everyone else had seen. 

He let his hands trail down Iruka’s back, fingers dipping just underneath the edge of his sweatshirt, finding warm skin and splaying his hand across it. Iruka moaned softly into the kiss, and it urged Kakashi on, a fire lit within him after holding back for so long. He let his hands move up the dip of Iruka’s spine, sweater moving upwards, and when the fabric was bunching underneath Iruka’s arms Iruka moved back enough to grab it and pull it over his head, letting it fall to the floor behind them. 

Iruka was beautiful. Golden tan skin dotted with a few freckles. Strong, but with a little softness to his edges. A trail of hair leading from his navel to disappear behind the waistband of his sweatpants. 

“Stunning,” Kakashi whispered in awe, seeing a flush rise in Iruka’s cheeks. 

Kakashi leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Iruka’s collarbone, and then another a little to the side of his sternum. He’d go further down, but with Iruka in his lap it was hard, so he settled for another kiss to Iruka’s shoulder. 

He could feel how Iruka huffed out a heated breath, how his fingers curled up in the fabric of the t-shirt Kakashi was wearing, starting to yank at it, and Kakashi took his hands away from Iruka just long enough to pull it over his head. 

Iruka leaned backwards, hands resting on Kakashi’s shoulders. “Oh,” he whispered as his gaze dragged down Kakashi’s body.  
  
He’d never given much consideration to his own body before. Lanky, pale, littered with various scars. He healed fast, but the skin always left behind reminders of whatever trauma he had been through. Fang marks, claw marks, thin white lines where knives had cut, at his side the puckered circle of a bullet wound. 

Neither of the scars seemed to be what had caught Iruka’s attention as his fingers traced down Kakashi’s chest, featherlight across his skin, following the divots of abdominal muscles, mouth parted a little. 

When he had his fill he looked up at Kakashi and there was heat in his eyes, pupils dilated with lust. “Kakashi, let’s go to the bedroom.”

Having a lapful of a half-naked Iruka clearly admiring his body had made him more than ready for the same, so he wasted no time as he wrapped his hands around Iruka’s strong thighs, and with ease he stood from the couch, lifting Iruka. 

Iruka yelped and wrapped his limbs around Kakashi’s body, clearly not used to being carried. When they came to the bedroom door he shifted Iruka enough that he could hold him up with a hand, a clear win-win, because this way Iruka’s ass was plush against his palm. He almost forgot what he had been doing, but then remembered and opened the door, stepping inside and kneeling on the bed, letting Iruka ease back against the mattress. 

Iruka was biting down on his bottom lip as he looked up at Kakashi, shifting only enough to pull off the elastic tying up his hair, letting it hang loose, still almost black with wetness. 

“Kakashi, please, I want to see all of you,” Iruka said, voice steadier than the flushed cheeks would imply. Kakashi’s mind should be reeling with the way this was going, had never quite believed Iruka could accept him, nevertheless that he’d still want him, but there was no denying the way Iruka looked at him. Maybe they were moving fast, but somehow it felt right. This had been building for a long while after all.

Kakashi had nothing else to hide from Iruka and felt nothing but safe underneath his warm gaze, so it was easy to move his hands to the sweatpants Iruka had loaned him, pulling them and the boxers underneath off, erection springing free immediately. 

Iruka made a breathless noise, eyes greedily drinking him in.

“You?” Kakashi asked, feeling awkward in how to ask, but knowing he wanted to see all of Iruka.  
  
Iruka smiled up at him and then he lifted his hips. “Help me?”

Kakashi was quick to move, grasping Iruka’s remaining clothes in his hands, and easing them down, watching with rapt attention as hipbones came into vision, and then dark hair, and then Iruka’s cock, thick and hard, curving towards his abdomen, tip flushed.  
  
Iruka’s thighs were soft skin over hard muscles, his calves likewise, both dusted with a fine sprinkle of hair, and Kakashi let his fingers trace over them as he pulled the pants and boxers down and off, letting them fall to the floor next to the bed. 

“Come here,” Iruka said, holding out a hand for him, and Kakashi came willingly, collapsing against Iruka’s body, chest against chest, their mouths finding each other in a hard kiss. He could feel every inch of Iruka pressed against him, his cock nestled against Iruka’s hip, and he couldn’t stop the way his body moved a little against him. The motion had a moan bubbling up in Iruka’s throat, so Kakashi did the same again, shifting a little so their cocks were sliding against each other. 

“I want more,” Iruka panted against his mouth. “Want you in me.”

Kakashi gasped, hips twitching down against Iruka at the mere thought of that. He wanted nothing more, wanted to feel Iruka around him, wanted to give Iruka everything he ever wanted. 

He kissed Iruka again, once, twice. “Yeah, okay.”

Iruka smiled up at him, bright and warm, and it took everything Kakashi had to pull away long enough to pull up a bottle of lube from his nightstand where Iruka told him to find it. Lube was nothing new, he wasn’t a stranger to pleasuring himself. Kind of hard not to when you were afraid of getting close to people, but there was something else he didn’t immediately see there. 

“I don’t have any condoms,” Kakashi said. “I… I can’t carry any diseases, but I don’t know if you want…”

He didn’t get to say more as Iruka’s arms wrapped around his neck and he spun them around, Kakashi pressed into the mattress, Iruka kneeling above him, looking absolutely breathtaking. His tan skin was flushed, his hair was loose around his face, a little messy, and his eyes were blown wide with lust. Kakashi’s hands travelled up his thighs and over his side, touching, feeling how his breathing was a little laboured, his skin a little slick with sweat.  
  
Iruka didn’t say anything, just grabbed the bottle of lube and poured some on his fingers. Kakashi watched wide-eyed as Iruka leaned forward, one hand resting on Kakashi’s chest, the other behind himself. Kakashi could only watch as Iruka’s lips parted on a soft gasp as fingers pushed inside.

A part of him wished he was the one to press his fingers inside Iruka’s heat, feeling him tight around him, but another part of him relished behind able to watch, seeing Iruka above him, looking breathtaking. He did do one thing he had been longing to do though, let one hand brush down Iruka’s abdomen until it could curl around his cock, the thick length kicking as he dragged his hand up the velvety skin. 

Iruka moaned out, begging for more, and Kakashi was nothing if not willing, hand moving over Iruka’s length, eyes trained on his face to see the way the pleasure twisted his features up a little, eyebrows drawn tight, mouth parted, head thrown back to expose the long line of his neck and the jut of his Adam’s apple. 

His own cock was aching for any kind of stimulation, pearls of slickness smearing against his abdomen, and the moment when Iruka sat up, drawing his fingers out of himself and moving so he could position Kakashi’s cock at his hole, Kakashi froze in anticipation. 

Iruka sank down achingly slow, and Kakashi could do nothing but hold onto Iruka’s thighs to ground himself at the pleasure of Iruka clenching down around him, warm and tight. This was better than he could have ever imagined. Just seeing Iruka above him, so clearly caught up in the pleasure of the stretch, was enough to have him longing to come already. 

When Iruka had taken all of him he stilled, both hands resting against Kakashi’s chest. He tilted his head down to look at Kakashi, eyes warm and filled with more than just lust. A soft smile played on his lips, and Kakashi had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.

He lifted a hand, palm pressing against Iruka’s cheek, amazement filling him, that someone like Iruka could care for him, could want to share his body and soul with someone like Kakashi, could see past the darkness and accept every part of him. 

“You look stunned,” Iruka said on a soft laugh. 

“I think I am,” Kakashi said, voice a little rough.  
  
Iruka beamed at that and leaned in, kissing Kakashi’s slack bottom lip once before he sat back, and then he started moving, lifting his body and sinking down again, and all Kakashi could do was hold on and follow the wave of bliss that Iruka brought with him as he rode him, slow and deep. 

He couldn’t stop touching Iruka, fingers trailing over thighs and sides, hands up his chest and down his abdomen to curl around his cock again. Iruka rode him a little harder then, hips rolling against him, and Kakashi couldn’t pull away, wanted to see Iruka come all over him, wanted to see him give in completely. 

He hadn’t had a lot of sex, but he knew his way around his own cock and figured the same would work for Iruka, dragging up the length with a firm circle of fingers and then pressing against the nerves where head met shaft. It made Iruka give of soft sounds and pleas for more, and Kakashi would never deny him anything, dragging his palm over the head of Iruka’s cock to spread the precome down the length, easing the touch. 

“Ah, Kakashi, I want you to fuck me, please,” Iruka said, sounding desperate for something only Kakashi could give him, and Kakashi knew exactly what Iruka wanted, and he sat up, wrapping his arms around Iruka’s waist and then he flipped them. 

Iruka made a broken moan as his back hit the mattress, and then Kakashi hitched one of his legs up over his hip and thrust deep, and the moan was drowned in a litany of, “Oh god, yes, Kakashi, please, more.” His nails were dragging marks up Kakashi’s back and Kakashi dove down, claiming Iruka’s lips in a fierce kiss as he started thrusting harder and faster, racing for their orgasms. 

He couldn’t touch Iruka like this, so when they pulled away from the kiss to breathe he whispered hoarsely, “Touch yourself for me, Iruka, I want to see you come.”

Iruka’s lids fluttered close as he groaned in pleasure, and his hand shot down, curling around his cock. As Kakashi fucked into the intense tightness that was Iruka he was holding back his orgasm with all he had, wanting Iruka to come first, wanted to see him lose himself in pleasure. Iruka moaned and the fingers of his free hand dug into Kakashi’s back, and then he bucked up against Kakashi and came. Come smeared between them as Kakashi kept fucking Iruka through it, drinking in the way Iruka’s face screwed up with pleasure, mouth falling open and eyes clenching shut. It was all it took for Kakashi to come as well, too sudden for him to pull out, and he thrust deep, burying himself in Iruka as he came harder than he ever had before. Time suspended for a moment, and all he could see was Iruka’s eyes, big and dark and so beautiful, and then he collapsed against him, mindful to keep the most of his weight off of him.  
  
Iruka’s arms moved so he could wrap them around Kakashi’s shoulders, keeping him pressed close, his face buried in Iruka’s throat, lips pressed against the skin, and in one awful moment Kakashi was eerily aware of the beat of pulse right underneath Iruka’s skin, and he pulled away, rolling off him and trying to gather his thoughts. 

Iruka didn’t seem to have noticed Kakashi’s reaction and rolled onto his side, head pillowed on Kakashi’s chest, one arm curled around him. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, and Kakashi couldn’t stop the amazement that filled him, washing away the dread of being reminded once again of what he was. 

He pressed a kiss against Iruka’s forehead, trying to focus on the man next to him, the one who had just given him his body in the most pleasurable way, the man who trusted him enough to let him close to his body and soul, and he felt his anxiety drain from him. With his heightened senses, it was inevitable that he’d notice Iruka’s pulse beating after what they’d done, that didn’t mean he wanted to bite him. He’d never had the urge to do so before, it wasn’t suddenly going to arrive now. 

“It’s I who should thank you,” Kakashi said, voice a little thick as he pulled Iruka close to him, pulling sheets over their naked body so Iruka wouldn’t be cold.  
  
Iruka chuckled softly against him, the sound soft and melodic. “We’ll both be grateful then.” 

Kakashi let himself relax and just enjoy the feel of a warm body next to him, and the complete sated feeling of just having orgasmed. They’d have to get up and clean off soon, but for now, he just wanted to feel Iruka breathing next to him.

***

They stayed wrapped up together until Iruka complained about the stickiness of come, and Kakashi scooped him up in his arms and cleaned the both of them off before changing the sheets. Iruka insisted that he should help, but Kakashi wanted nothing else but to spoil the man he cared so deeply about. 

He had every intention to fall asleep next to him when the insistent buzzing of a phone interrupted the quiet. Kakashi wanted to ignore it, but he also knew that the only calls he ever got were work-related, so he leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed his discarded sweats, pulling them close and digging through the pockets until he found his phone. He cast a glance down at the screen and saw that it was Kurenai calling before he answered, grunting out a greeting. 

Kurenai didn’t seem to mind, or she was just used to Kakashi. 

“I just wanted to give you a quick update. We’ve found and talked to this Mizuki guy. If he summoned the golems he did it by hiring someone, because he doesn’t have a drop of magic in him.”

“It’s possible he paid for the attack,” Kakashi said. “Did he have an explanation for why his phone was used to message Iruka?”

“He says that he can’t recall messaging Iruka at all last night. He claims to have trouble remembering the evening at all. He seems kind of disoriented. We’re testing him for anything that might have messed with his memory.”

“Did you tell him what the message was?”

“No, we haven’t told him much of anything, we were hoping he’d talk unprovoked. We’ve asked him to come in tomorrow for a formal interview. He seemed nervous, but then again, that’s pretty common even for those who haven’t done anything. I do think we should be prepared to look for another perpetrator, somehow this Mizuki seems more like a pawn than anything. Do you have any idea who’d want Umino dead?”

Kakashi looked over at where Iruka was lying, no longer dozing off but staring at him. He probably couldn’t hear what Kurenai was saying, but he probably gathered enough to realise it was about what had happened earlier. 

“I’ll talk to him, but, no, I don’t. He’s a school teacher, so unless it’s a case of a tiger mom going way too far I can’t imagine there’d be anyone.”

“Alright, we’ll keep looking into it. The team is still processing the crime scene, it will take a while, it’s a bit of a mess.”

“I’m sorry about that, the things kept exploding.”

“I’m glad you were there, he wouldn’t have made it out alive otherwise. It’s nice to not have to see a dead body on the scene for once.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Too many times had Kakashi been too late to save someone, always a few steps behind.

“I won’t disturb you anymore. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

“Night, Kurenai, thank you for the update.”

He hung up and placed his phone on the nightstand before turning back to Iruka. Iruka lifted the edge of the comforter, and Kakashi couldn’t help but smile as he slid underneath, leeching off of Iruka’s warmth as he pressed close. 

“Work?” Iruka asked.

“Yeah. They are still processing the crime scene, so they don’t know much, but it sounds like they don’t think Mizuki was anything other than a decoy. He couldn’t have done it himself, doesn’t have the magic to make something like golems or the force field. Maybe someone knows you enough two know each other and used that to get to you. Do you have any idea who’d want to harm you?”

Iruka rolled over on his back, staring up at the ceiling. “I… have no idea. As you said, I’m a school teacher, it’s not an occupation where you get a lot of enemies. The worst the parents do is threaten to drag me in front of the school board for not giving their kids top grades, and that hasn’t started once since I started working with the kids here, that was more when I worked in high school. And beyond people at work, and Naruto and you, I don’t know that many people?” 

“I’m sure Kurenai will find out who it was. In the meanwhile I want you to be careful. It might have been a one-time thing, or they might try again. Call me the moment there’s anything suspicious. Maybe you shouldn’t stay alone either. You could probably crash at Naruto and Sasuke’s place.”

Iruka rolled towards him. “I’m not gonna stay with them just in case something might happen. I’ll be fine here. I’ll get a bat, maybe a knife, just in case.”

“Iruka…”

Iruka leaned up and kissed him. “Or you’ll just have to stop by more often, that’s always an option. Make sure I’m fine and all.”

There was a mischievous glint in Iruka’s eyes, a side of him Kakashi hadn’t seen much from before. He had the sneaking suspicion there were more layers to Iruka than just the kind and innocent school teacher. He’d noticed a whole new side just today, after all, nothing innocent by what they had just been doing. Not to forget the way Iruka had saved his life earlier, not hesitating to jump to the rescue even while faced with seven feet of clay monster.

“I guess that can be arranged,” Kakashi muttered into the kiss when Iruka claimed his lips again, and soon he found himself pushed over on his back as Iruka swung over him, straddling him. His hair hung loose around his face, and his nakedness was only covered by sheets pooling around his waist, his chest bare, all smooth tan skin and the faintest trace of hairs. 

Kakashi made quick work to remove the sheets and leave Iruka gloriously naked on top of him. Beautiful. 

He could definitely be convinced to spend more time around Iruka. For protection. And maybe something else too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand we're officially halfway through Devotion! Things definitely happened in this chapter. :3


	9. Chapter 9

The alarm clock went off way too early, its screeching piercing through whatever dreams Iruka had been having, forcing him to blink open heavy eyelids and find his phone, turning the alarm off. He grunted when he saw the time, not even seven am. He wasn’t sure just when they had ended up falling asleep, but it was not long enough ago. He wanted nothing more than to turn back over and fall right back asleep, but he had students waiting for him. 

With a groan he rolled out of bed, sitting on the edge of the bed, mentally preparing to rise. He heard a soft snore from behind him and looked back over his shoulder, where Kakashi was still sleeping, curled up on his side. A smile instantly spread on Iruka’s face. It was nice to wake up with someone in the bed with him, someone he cared about, someone who finally trusted him enough to tell him about himself. Kakashi could have refused to explain what had made him into what he was, but he had shared and they were all the closer for it. It was as if the barrier that had kept them apart had dropped and it felt so right. 

Iruka desperately wanted to curl up next to Kakashi and just sleep the morning away, but he forced himself to get to his feet and pad towards the shower. He kept his hair tied up, not wanting to bother with wetting it, and just quickly scrubbed down his body, washing away the traces of what they had been up to last night. 

When he came back into the bedroom Kakashi was stirring, unscarred eye peeking open. 

“‘morning,” he said on a yawn, stretching out over the bed, the sheets slipping down his upper body, leaving most of him gloriously on display. His skin was pale and flawless, abdomen taut with lean muscles. Iruka wouldn’t have minded another round, but there was no time.

“Good morning,” he said, digging through his drawer for a clean pair of boxers, dropping the towel around his waist to pull them on. 

He could feel Kakashi’s eyes on him and he didn’t mind one bit.  
  
“Going to work?” Kakashi asked, and Iruka looked over his shoulder to see Kakashi sit up.  
  
“Yeah, have to be there by seven-thirty.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Iruka dragged a t-shirt over his head. “You don’t have to, it’s not far to walk. You can sleep in if you want, I don’t mind.”

Kakashi levelled him with a firm gaze. Iruka noticed how he kept the red eye closed. It seemed mostly automatic, like he was so used to not even seeing from it, so he just kept the lid down. “Iruka. Someone tried to kill you yesterday, and we have no idea who, or why. I’m going to drive you to work. I want you to be careful around Mizuki too, we don’t know for sure to what extent his involvement was.”

Iruka just found himself nodding as he pulled on a pair of chinos, buttoning them on and grabbing a sweater to wear over the t-shirt. “I guess that’s fair.”

“When are you done today?” Kakashi asked, picking up the clothes he had borrowed from Iruka last night and pulling them on. Iruka rather liked how Kakashi looked in his clothes.

“Around three-thirty,” Iruka said. “I need an hour to prep tomorrows lessons after school is done.”

“I’ll pick you up then, take you back here.” 

“But what about work, you don’t have to—”

Kakashi stepped up in front of Iruka and Iruka’s lips slammed shut. 

“I’ll go in, get the paperwork out of the way while you are at school. Then I’ll pick you up. I’ll talk to Gai, he can cover for me tonight. The unit doesn’t technically need me to be in the office all shift, they just need their assignments and someone to be backup if something happens. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

Iruka stepped closer and slung his arms around Kakashi’s neck. “I do appreciate it. I’m just not used to anyone taking care of me, you know?”

Kakashi smiled, baring the smallest hint of fangs. “You deserve it.”

A quick slice of bread later Iruka and Kakashi headed outside, walking to Kakashi’s car. There was a chill on the air, autumn steadily growing colder, the trees in the park at the end of the street yellowing.

Inside the car Kakashi reached over and popped open the glove apartment, pulling out a small white square wrapped in plastic. Iruka had no idea what it was until Kakashi opened it and pulled it over his face. A surgical mask. It should look familiar, Iruka had seen Kakashi with a mask on almost constantly since they first met, but the last night had made him appreciate how nice it was to be able to see all his face. 

Kakashi started the car, and after some hesitation, he reached over and grabbed Iruka’s hand. Their fingers interlaced.

“I want you to call the moment you feel something off. You see anyone that shouldn’t be there, notice any weird sounds or smells or whatever. Don’t investigate, just call me, please,” Kakashi said. 

“I promise. I’m not stupid, I’ve watched too many horror films to go into the basement where the weird sounds are coming from. I called you last night, didn’t I?”

Kakashi glanced over. “I’m glad you did.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Iruka wasn’t stupid, he knew that if he had gone into that house alone he would have been dead now. Crushed or suffocated or something else equally deadly. It was an unpleasant thought.

It didn’t take them long until Kakashi pulled up outside the school. “I’ll pick you up at three-thirty then?” he asked. 

“Yes, I’ll be here. Text me if I’m not waiting for you, it just means I’ve forgotten about the time.”

Kakashi nodded, and Iruka knew he should leave, that he had a class to reach, but he also didn’t want to leave Kakashi. 

“Can I… Can I kiss you goodbye?” he asked, feeling awkward about asking but not sure what Kakashi was comfortable with. 

Kakashi nodded quickly though, and Iruka leaned in, only pulling the mask down at the last moment, pressing their lips together. He meant it as a quick kiss, but when he had him there he found it hard to pull away, kissing Kakashi deeper than he had any intention of. Not that Kakashi seemed to mind much, kissing back eagerly. 

Reluctantly Iruka pulled away and moved the mask back up Kakashi’s face. “I do have to go now. Take care of yourself, and I’ll see you later. I’ll make you dinner for the bother.”

Kakashi brushed a few stray hairs behind Iruka’s ear, and the gesture shouldn’t leave Iruka with butterflies in his stomach, but it did. “It’s no bother at all. I like spending time with you.”

Iruka smiled at him as he headed out of the car. “It’s a date then,” he said as he turned around, and almost stumbled over a kid standing right behind him. Her red hair was up in pigtails like they were most days and she was standing with her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on the soles of her feet. 

“Mr Umino, was that your giiirlfriend?” she asked, dragging the last out in a teasing tone. She must have seen them kissing. Iruka made a mental note not to do any more kissing near the school grounds.

“Good morning, Moegi,” Iruka started. Truth be told he wasn’t quite sure what Kakashi and he were. He’d considered them friends, but they were beyond that now. Would it be terribly childish to refer to him as his boyfriend? Did people in their thirties even do that? 

Figuring it was the best explanation in this case, considering Moegi didn’t need to know the intricacies of adult relationships. Particularly not since even Iruka didn’t understand them. “Actually, it was my boyfriend,” he said. He hoped she wouldn’t make a big deal out of the fact that Kakashi and Iruka were both boys. Kids rarely cared about these things, unless their parents made them care. 

“Oooh,” she said, eyes wide. And that marked the end of the conversation because the next moment Konohamaru came jogging, his nanny half running behind him, and Moegi’s attention was whisked away as the two ran towards the playground to get those last few minutes of playing in before the school bell rang.

Iruka shook his head and smiled to himself as he headed inside, turning back and giving Kakashi a small wave as he drove off. He rather liked the sound of having Kakashi as his boyfriend. 

***

Kakashi made a pit stop at home to shower and get changed, figuring that sweatpants weren’t appropriate to wear for the office. He also picked up a new fabric mask and eye patch, having plenty of spares. He felt oddly covered by it when he pulled both on. He was glad there were no more secrets between Iruka and him, that he didn’t need to hide from him anymore, even if he’d never meant to reveal his secret in quite such a dramatic way. 

He was still amazed by Iruka and just how good he was. He had accepted Kakashi in a heartbeat, doing what his aunt and uncle never could. Iruka was too good for this world, and Kakashi would give everything to make sure he was protected. He had no idea who wanted to hurt Iruka, but he was going to stop them.

He made his way into the office, booting up the computer and leaning back in his chair. He still couldn’t quite believe how last night had gone. First fighting a horde of golems, and then telling Iruka everything he had been hiding, every little dirty part of his past, and then… Iruka accepting him so wholeheartedly. Trusting him enough to give his body to him. 

Shit, it had been pretty spectacular. Feeling Iruka’s body against his, pressing inside him, seeing the look of pure ecstasy on Iruka’s face as he came. 

Kakashi bit down on his lip, trying to focus on something else, not particularly interested in being caught with a hard-on in the office. 

He quickly accessed his work mail, looking through for any important notices. Mostly just reports that could be dealt with later. He quickly clicked through them and moved them to the Later folder. It was getting rather full.

Then there was an email from the leader of one of the units he rarely worked with and it took Kakashi a moment to realise why. He had almost forgotten about the explosion in the building where the vampire had been held. Ibiki had said he’d be in contact when they had concluded their investigations, and this was it. So much had happened in the while since the explosion it had already faded to the periphery. 

He opened it, reading the message that came with it. 

I have enclosed our findings. The explosion was magical in origin and it originated in the basement. We’ve found traces of at least seven fatalities in the basement so far, some human and some vampiric. There’s likely to be more, but several of the rooms are caved in so we have yet had the possibility of assessing them. We have been unable to trace whoever was in charge of the facility or who created the spells, but we are continuing the work. Feel free to contact me if there’s anything in the report that needs clarification.

Ibiki Morino

Dark magic had been used in the explosion, so a witch was involved. They might have just been hired to protect the laboratory, it wasn’t uncommon for people with less than legal plans to use magic to conceal what they were doing. Or the witch might be more involved, it was impossible to tell from what information he had. 

For being the leader of a unit dealing with the vampiric plague Kakashi kept finding himself in situations created by magic lately. The explosion, the drugs in the bar and now the golems. Somehow he was starting to think it wasn’t all by accident. 

Kakashi leaned back in his chair, legs kicked up on his desk, fingers locked behind his head as he recalled what he had seen in that basement. A makeshift lab, highly illegal. Vampires locked away, presumably to be experimented on. But for what purpose? And who was funding the entire business? The place had looked topnotch, so a good chunk of money had been poured into it, but it was nothing official. Then he remembered the blood bags. Someone was making sure the vampires were being taken care of, so they had to be working on something, not just capturing and dissecting them for the heck of it. 

The blood bags. They’d all been from the city hospital, but there was no way they would have a secret lab like that. But how was all the blood there? Had someone stolen it from the hospital? It might be the lead that Kakashi needed to feel like he was doing something and just not passively waiting for something to happen. Someone had done something illegal down in that lab and had done a lot to cover their tracks. They very nearly succeeded. If Kakashi had been a normal human he would have perished down there and who knows if anyone would have bothered looking into a crack house falling apart. The lab would lie there, abandoned and forgotten. 

Ibiki’s team didn’t seem to have a lot to go on, so, for now, the blood bags were the only clue Kakashi had, and since he wasn’t sure he’d even remembered to mention those in the report no one else would’ve worked that clue yet. Plastic melted easily, so there might not be any left in the ruins. 

He hesitated for a moment, looked towards the stack of reports on the desk and quickly stood up, heading out of the office. He couldn't deal with another day of paperwork, there were no scheduled meetings and it was hours until he could pick Iruka up. He had time to do some fieldwork. Technically it wasn’t his job, but Ibiki’s team was probably busy still looking into the explosion and trying to track the magic, or possibly just digging through rubble for what clues they might be able to find, and there were no telling how long that would take. Kakashi would help out by looking into it. It might be a dead-end, but if it wasn’t he’d just tell Ibiki later on. Kakashi just needed to be doing something proactive. 

A while later Kakashi headed inside the massive building that was the major hospital in their city. It wasn’t the first time walking through these doors. Kakashi had seen a little too much of the hospital after working in the DPA all of his adult life. The agents had a nasty tendency to suffer injuries grave enough to land them here. Broken arms, cuts and bites. He was praying it would be the worst he’d have to go here for, so far everyone had gotten back alive, but it was a dangerous job they had, and a few of them had brushed near death. Kakashi wasn’t sure what he would do if any of the agents in his units didn’t make it through, if he lost one of them. He knew plenty of other unit leaders who’d have to go through that, and it was rough. The guilt of having assigned someone the mission that ultimately claimed their life, it was a hard one to get over. 

He shook off the chills that travelled down his spine and approached the main information desk. He figured he needed to talk to whoever was in charge of the blood bank.

With his badge in hand, it didn’t take him long until he was in the elevator on the way to the fourth floor. He made his way through winding corridors following signs and soon approached the right department. A nurse was sitting at a desk and there was a small waiting room for blood donors, a few people sitting there. Beyond glass doors he could see lab technicians and phlebotomists walk through a hallway, doors leading to various labs and storage room no doubt.

Kakashi introduced himself, badge again coming in handy, and soon was lead towards a small office where a middle-aged woman was sitting, tapping on her computer. Kakashi was told she was the one in charge of the whole department, both the donating centre and the actual blood labs, so if anyone would know how their blood bags had made their way to the crime scene it would be her.  
  
She looked up at him as Kakashi walked into the office, pushing away from her desk and grabbing his hand in a firm grip when she saw the badge.  
  
“Kakashi Hatake, unit leader at the DPA,” Kakashi introduced himself with. 

“DPA?” She looked surprised. “How can we help you?” 

Kakashi told her what little he knew. That he’d found bags of blood marked with this hospital on a crime scene, that they were looking into how they could have arrived there. 

She’d sat down behind her desk again, motioning for Kakashi to take the seat opposite her as she turned towards the computer, looking for something. 

“It’s not uncommon that things go missing from the hospital. There are a lot of people working here, and the temptation is sometimes too big. Mostly it’s just supplies. Bandages or the like, or it’s drugs that they try to sell on or use themselves. We’ve done a lot to make sure the latter doesn’t happen, but it’s hard to stop completely.

“Blood has never been a big thing to go missing, but of course not all bags are accounted for. Some are broken and maybe not catalogued properly, some are input wrong in the system. We get deliveries from the local Red Cross in addition to what we extract ourself, so mistakes happen.”

It made sense. Anywhere a lot of people had access to was bound to have these things happen, whether by accident or on purpose. There had been quite a lot of bags in the basement room though, maybe enough that it looked out of the ordinary. 

“Ah, I see the techs have made notes a couple of months ago. A small shipment of blood gone missing. It was brushed off as an error in the system, but it could be what you are looking for. Four insulated boxes of blood bags, so that would be quite a lot, they carry a dozen bags each.”

Kakashi did some quick math. Four dozen bags would probably be about the same amount of blood in more than four human beings. Enough to sustain a few vampires for a while. A vampire usually drained their victims when they killed them, but a lot of blood ended up spilt on the ground most of the time. Vampires tended to get messy with their kills. They also didn’t need to feed that often, maybe once a week to sustain themselves. Vampires lost to blood lust could end up draining several people in a day, gorging themselves on blood, but it was less out of necessity and more out of insanity. 

Which meant that if someone had stolen that much blood they could have kept the lab stocked for at least a few weeks, maybe more if they rationed the blood. They might’ve supplied the stock with smaller thefts as well, keeping the supply up. It still didn’t make any sense why they would do so, but it made it likely that the missing shipment wasn’t due to a technical error. 

“Who would have access to the blood?” 

“It’s mostly the technicians that have access to the storage rooms, but nurses and others are there from time to time as well.”

“So a lot of people then?”

She made a disapproving grimace. “It’s not much help for you, but yes.”

“Surveillance?” Kakashi asked.

“We have cameras, yes, but they don’t store data for that long. Security went through them after the note was made, but they didn’t find any discrepancies.”

Kakashi bit back a sigh. They had probably looked through the tapes briefly to make sure no one walked out with boxes of blood under their arms, but he was sure anyone stealing blood wouldn’t have been that obvious. And whoever had obliterated the scene after had used magic, which meant they either were or had access to, magic users. It would’ve been easy to smuggle out the boxes or erase it from the tapes.

It looked like this was a bit of a dead-end, but at least he had confirmed that someone had likely stolen a shipment of blood a few months ago. Which probably meant the lab had been operational for at least that long, if not longer if they’d gotten blood from somewhere else previously. Why anyone had created a lab and captured vampires he still had no idea. If they were experimenting on them then why? What were they hoping to accomplish? 

Usually, if they found vampires locked up it was because those that loved who the vampire had once been when still alive couldn’t deal with the death. Some hoped that their loved one was still in there somewhere, some hoped there was a way to reverse it all, and some just couldn’t stand the thought of their loved ones dead and buried, so they’d rather take the risk to keep what was essentially a corpse with a demonic parasite around. It never ended well. Either someone got killed, the vampire starved to death, or the DPA had to go in and forcefully end things for them. Having to execute a vampire with weeping spouses or parents watching and trying to stop you was a truly shitty experience. Families had a hard time coming away unscathed from something that traumatic, but it had to be done for the safety of everyone. 

Kakashi could understand them, but he also knew it didn’t help anyone to keep a vampire around. There was no turning back from being a vampire. 

Except for him. Which probably made him some kind of hypocrite. As far as he knew he was the sole example that dying with vampire blood in your body wasn’t a one-stop way to vampire town, but his case was unique. A few select people in the DPA labs had tested him repeatedly when he joined the DPA years ago. He’d given enough blood samples to fill up himself several times over, and no one had any answer other than that it was all a fluke. Obito had reacted quickly enough in exactly the right way to pull him back and had given his life for it. 

They had tried to recreate it as an experiment on newly bitten victims, but the pure amount of energy Obito had managed to channel through himself was so staggering they hadn’t been anywhere near and Kakashi was sure they had just given up at some point. He was a freak accident, something that shouldn't be. He should have been dead and buried and Obito should be the one alive, but that wasn’t what had happened, so now Kakashi lived Obito’s dream, and Obito rotted away six feet under. 

He shook his head, trying to clear it. This was not the time to go down this old path. He was working, had to focus.

“Can you show me the labs and the storage rooms?” Kakashi asked. He didn’t think much would come of it, but he might as well when he was here already.

She gave a nod and pushed up from her chair, leading her way back into the hallway. They headed towards one of the storage rooms. Several coolers with dozens of bags of blood lined one wall, and along another was a metal cabinet with a glass front where bags with yellow platelets were kept in constant motion to ensure they didn’t coagulate. A man with a plastic shield in front of his face was unpacking a stack of plain-looking boxes marked with Red Cross, dozens of fresh blood bags to be stored away and used for patients. 

“This the type of shipment that was lost?” Kakashi asked, nodding towards the boxes. 

“Yes, four boxes. They are transported in daily, we get boxes from all over the county. Everything should be properly accounted for, but there’s always room for human error, which is why no one took it too seriously when four boxes were unaccounted for. It might still be a clerical error.”

The boxes were fairly large. Someone carrying four of them out of the room would be noticeable. It wouldn't be too hard if you were desperate though. Find a cart, conceal them as something else. Very doable.

“If you want to talk to security about the tapes I can have someone take you to them? They can show you to the labs as well. I have a meeting I need to attend coming up,” the head of the department asked. Kakashi thanked her and accepted the offer. The tapes might be gone, but there should still be some notes or people to talk to. He could get the name of whoever reviewed the tape, ask them what they saw. They might not even have been looking after the right thing. And it wasn’t like he thought he’d find anything of use in the labs, but he’d like to see it, just to make sure. He might just be procrastinating his paperwork at this point.

“One moment, I’ll jus…,” she said, looking into the hallway and calling out for one of the nurses who passed by. “Nurse Nohara, would you please escort the agent to the labs and then the security office, tell them he has full clearance from me.” She turned back to Kakashi.

The nurse was short, with shoulder-length brown hair and eyes that widened exponentially when she saw Kakashi. It was a little unnerving. He automatically lifted a hand to his face, tugging at his mask and adjusting his eye patch, almost wondering if he had forgotten to put on either. She looked startled to see him and he wasn’t sure why. Beyond the fangs and the eye, there was nothing about the way he looked that gave away what he was, and he was sure he hadn’t seen her before. She wasn’t old enough to have worked here back when he was admitted after the fateful day when he became this half-vampire thing he was.

Considering his job though, it was possible he had met her at some point. He often saw people at the worst points of their lives, either after having had someone they loved killed by a vampire or after saving them from certain death at the hands of a vampire. If he at some point had to kill one of her family members it wasn’t all that weird of a reaction, and it wasn’t the first time. His look was quite recognisable after all, with the mask and the messy hair. 

“Ah, ah, yes, of course, follow me,” she stuttered out, and turned on her heel, heading back towards the corridors that lead through to the other departments of the hospital. Kakashi followed after, glad she was being professional about it because he hated when they got emotional, because what could he possibly do to make it right. Her hands were fisted at her side, and she looked tense. Maybe she was irritated over having to lead him where he needed to be instead of doing her actual job.  
  
Not much he could do about it now. She took him into one of the labs and stood to the side while he looked over it. Several people were lined up near benches, small vials of blood standing in front of them. There was a multitude of different machines in the room, and Kakashi had no idea what any of them did. 

There were five technicians just in this one room, and who knew how many else in their other rooms. Dozens of people had access to the blood every day, so tracking down who had done it would be near impossible. Someone who needed the cash and sold it to whoever had hidden the vampires away in the basement most likely, which meant it could be any of them. 

He was no closer to any answers, so he motioned for her to lead on and soon they were heading down a flight of stairs, heading to the security offices. Probably another dead end, but at least Kakashi would be sure he’d done what he could. 

Soon enough they arrived at the right office, and the nurse knocked on the door, quickly relaying the message from the department head.

“Thank you for escorting me,” Kakashi said as the nurse started to walk off.

She spun around, looking at him, a hint of a frown on her forehead, and then took off, not offering another word. 

Kakashi shrugged it off and headed into the security office to see what he could find out about the missing boxes. 

***

Naruto walked into the office, one arm slung around a grumbling Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke kept pretending he wasn’t into public displays of affection, but Naruto knew better, Naruto knew Sasuke liked being close to him, was comforted by a small touch, he just wasn’t ready to admit it, even if his body did it for him. He might bitch about it, but when Naruto did put an arm around him Sasuke always let out a soft breath and leaned a little into it. 

Naruto was well used to Sasuke’s ways by now, he didn’t care that Sasuke wasn’t the most forthcoming with sweet words or gestures. Sasuke loved him fiercely and would do anything for him, and Naruto knew that, didn’t need superficial words to tell him as much. He saw it in the way Sasuke looked at him when he didn’t think Naruto was paying attention, and in the way he was always there, supporting him when he needed it. 

He was right by his side as Naruto traced down the grave that was his parents’ last resting place and broke down in front of it, and he held him tightly when Naruto woke up in the middle of the night, heart tearing out of his chest from the nightmares. Dreams about hurting those he loved, about losing the people he cared about. He kissed Naruto’s forehead when he was down, and he never complained when Naruto loaded their shopping cart up with instant noodle packs. Well, almost never. 

Naruto bumped their heads together. “Ready to get out there, kick some vampire ass?”

Sasuke grunted something that was probably an affirmation and tried to shake Naruto’s arm off, but Naruto just tightened it around his shoulder and planted a big wet kiss on Sasuke’s cheek, laughing when Sasuke rubbed the slobber off with an annoyed huff. 

Naruto finally let the arm drop away and dumped down in front of his desk and booted up the computer, eager to see if they were on patrol or had any actual missions tonight. 

While the computer reluctantly started he leaned back in his chair, nearly tipping backwards, only Sakura’s hand on the back of it saving him. 

“Naruto,” she said, “try not to kill yourself through sheer stupidity, okay?” 

Naruto just grinned at her, spinning once in his chair. “Yeah, yeah. How are you?”

She shrugged. “I’m fine. I heard about your dad though, how is he doing?”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “My… dad? What about him?”

Sakura’s lips curled into a surprised o. “I mean, I was sure you already knew, about, about yesterday?”

Naruto shot up from his chair, worry instantly rushing through him. “What about yesterday, what happened?” he asked, hands flying to Sakura’s shoulders and shaking her a little until she stopped him with a firm grip on his wrists. She was too strong for a normal human being, had to be something supernatural in her genes.

“Ah, I heard from someone in Kurenai’s unit.   
he was attacked last night, by… golems? He didn’t tell you?” 

Naruto gaped at her. His dad had been attacked by golems, and Naruto didn’t even know? What had happened, was he fine, was he hurt? Shit, he needed to talk to him, immediately. Naruto didn’t know what golems were, but they certainly didn’t sound good, and if Iruka was at all hurt he’d kick their asses. If they even had asses. 

Naruto patted his pockets only to realise he had forgotten his phone back home. Sasuke had reminded him just as they were getting ready to leave, but then Sasuke had bent over to tie his shoes, and Naruto had been too preoccupied pinching his ass to remember his phone. 

“Here,” a soothing voice said right in his ear. Sasuke had pulled up behind him, one comforting hand on Naruto’s shoulder, the other one holding Sasuke’s phone out, Iruka’s number already pulled up on the screen. Naruto quickly grabbed it and initiated the call, pressing the phone to his ear, dreading what he was about to hear.

Three agonisingly long rings later his dad finally picked up. 

“DAD? Are you okay? Oh my god, tell me you are okay, they say you were attacked. By go..thingies!” He’d forgotten what Sakura had called it. 

“Naruto?” his dad said on the other side of the line. “I’m fine, calm down, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Naruto drew a shuddering breath at hearing his dad’s voice, calm and so utterly normal. Not eaten by monsters after all. “Shit, why are they saying you were attacked by, uhm, something? Is it a prank?”

There was a long moment of silence on the other side of the line. “Well, technically I was attacked by golems last night. I’m fine though!”

Naruto nearly dropped the phone in sheer shock. He made a screeching noise of distress that made sure to draw everyone’s attention.

“Naruto!” Iruka’s voice cut through Naruto’s panic. “I’m fine! Kakashi was with me, he kept me safe. He’s here now as well, so don’t worry.”

Naruto sagged down in his office chair. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? I had to hear it from people at work!”

“I’m sorry, Naruto, I… well, I forgot to tell you. I’m perfectly fine, so it just didn’t feel prudent at the time.”

Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hand when Sasuke offered it, fingers interlacing, Sasuke knowing exactly what Naruto needed to calm down. 

Iruka gave a quick blow-by-blow of last night, and Naruto just gaped, wondering how the hell his father had managed to get involved in some convoluted murder attempt. 

Then he stopped, his mind connecting something he’d heard earlier. “Wait, wait, wait,” he said, cutting Iruka off mid-sentence. “Let’s backtrack a little here. Kakashi was with you last night?”

Iruka confirmed. 

“And he took you to work before picking you up again afterwards?”

Iruka confirmed again.

“So that means Kakashi was with you last night, and then again this morning. Holy fuck, he spent the night, didn’t he? Are you like together now?” Naruto shot up off the chair, sending it slamming into Sasuke’s desk. “Oh my GOD! Do I have a second dad now? What should I call you? Dad One and Dad Two? Dad and father? Or just Dad and Kakashi? Or maybe—”

Quite rudely Iruka interrupted him. “Naruto! Please, stop talking. Kakashi just spent the night to make sure I was safe, that is all.”

Naruto frowned, even if he knew Iruka wouldn’t be able to see. “He slept on the couch?”

There was silence on the other end. 

Naruto chuckled. “I hope you used protection, I am not ready to be a big brother just yet.”

“Naruto!” Iruka exclaimed in what sounded like outrage. 

“But I guess, since you have time for such things, you are fine. I do expect you to report any future murder attempt directly to me. You know, having a super fancy shifter as a son is an asset you just haven’t used yet, I’m a little disappointed.”

Iruka sighed. “Naruto, I’m a teacher, it’s not like people tend to see me as a target on a daily basis. But sure, I promise I’ll tell you, and if I ever need a bodyguard you are top of my list.”

“Good! Please be careful and tell Kakashi that if he mistreats you I’ll shove his dirty novels so far up his ass he’ll choke on them, thank you, bye!”

Naruto hung up, sitting back down in his chair, swivelling it around so he could face Sasuke over the screen of his computer. “You heard?” 

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah. Iruka is fine?” 

“Yeah, sounded like it. I need to talk to him more later, figure out exactly what happened so I know who to kill for trying to hurt my dad, but he sounded safe for now.”

Sasuke snorted. “With Kakashi, yeah?”

A bright grin spread on Naruto’s mouth. “Yup!”


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi stretched his back as he walked into the office. He’d dropped Iruka off at work after having spent another night with him. He had still been reluctant to leave, hadn’t wanted Iruka to go in at all in case whoever had set up the trap would try again, but Iruka had refused to stay at home, was adamant that there was no way he was going to hide away because of one incident, that the kids needed him, and that he would be safe at the school. He was stubborn, that was for sure. 

Kakashi had complained again, but Iruka had given him a hard look, one Kakashi would bet Naruto had seen a fair share of times, and he’d given in after Iruka had promised that the moment something seemed off he would contact Kakashi. 

Unit Seven was scattered around the room, having just come in from the night’s patrols. Most of them seemed to have had an uneventful night, smiling and seeming at ease. Lee’s hair was a mess, which meant he’d either been fighting or getting rid of some excess energy by walking around the office on his hands. It happened surprisingly frequently. 

Kakashi greeted his agents, made sure everything was fine with them and then headed into his office. The stack of paperwork on his desk had threatened to topple over the last time he was there so he didn’t even want to know what state it was in now. 

He’d barely gotten started on it when there was a knock on his door, Sasuke entering when Kakashi called out a greeting. 

“Sasuke, is there anything wrong?” Kakashi asked, pushing away the report he’d been making notes on, eager for a break even if he’d only started a couple of minutes ago. 

Sasuke hesitated, then headed over, sitting down in the chair opposite Kakashi’s desk. 

“I don’t mean to pry into your private life, but Naruto told me about what happened, and that you and Iruka…” His voice trailed off, and he waved his hand to finish off the sentence. “Whatever you are. I just wanted to say that… I’m happy for you. And I guess I wanted to say thank you too.”

Kakashi’s eyebrows shot up. This was not what he had expected, at all. 

“I know I… was a little difficult in the past.”

Kakashi refrained from saying anything to that. A little difficult was putting it mildly. Kakashi had lost count in the number of partners Sasuke chased away.

“But you were always there, supporting me, even if I didn’t want it, even if I pushed all help away. If you hadn’t kept pushing partners on me, then I wouldn’t have Naruto today, and for that I am grateful. I was stuck living in the past, haunted by what had happened, unable to move on. But that’s no life, hatred and sadness can be all-consuming, leaving no room for anything good. Naruto helped me realise that, helped me face my demons and move on.

“I guess I just wanted to say that I hope things work out for you. Iruka is a great man, he’d be good for you. We’re both private people, so I don’t know much about your life outside here in the office, but I think this is a good thing, and I hope you don’t shy away from it. Iruka and Naruto, they make for a pretty good family.” 

Kakashi had no idea how to respond, he was quite touched if he was to be honest. It was astounding to see the change in Sasuke from how he had been before he met Naruto. Sasuke was calmer now, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could finally breathe again. He looked happy. He looked how Kakashi felt when he was around Iruka. 

“Thank you, Sasuke,” Kakashi said, and Sasuke stood from his chair with a nod.

“Naruto and I are heading home now. Please take care.”

He headed towards the office door, but stopped halfway, turning around with a small sigh. “Also, I was told to say that if you hurt Iruka I am supposed to help Naruto dispose of your book collection. He said you knew in which manner.”

Kakashi chuckled. “I shall make a note of it.”

With a small smirk, Sasuke turned and left the room, and from out in the bullpen Kakashi could hear an excited yell from Naruto. 

Kakashi leaned back in his chair, pondering Sasuke’s words. Sasuke had never been one to talk about feelings, so hearing this much from him felt… important. The words had weight. Sasuke had been too caught up in hatred and revenge to move on with his life, and it had tormented him. With Naruto, he had moved on and it was clear to everyone around him how much better he was for it. 

Kakashi wasn’t stupid, he knew he too had demons he was fighting. He had never been able to get over Obito’s sacrifice. Losing Obito had left him feeling like he had lost a piece of his heart, rendering him broken. He’d always felt that it wasn’t fair that Obito had died for him, not when Obito was everything Kakashi was not. Good, happy, with dreams he longed to fulfil. He could have lived a much better life than Kakashi ever did. 

For years Kakashi had let himself stew in the regrets of the past, full well knowing it wasn’t healthy, and that nothing he did would ever bring Obito back to him. No amount of beating himself up would change their places. 

The loss of Obito and the knowledge of what Kakashi had become—something people feared—had made him withdrawn in a way that far surpassed how he had been as a child. It had been easier to pull away from people, to shield himself, but now, with Iruka at his side, he was starting to think there was a better way. Iruka had accepted what he was, hadn’t as much as flinched when he learned the truth. 

Maybe it was time to start dealing with his past demons.

***

The trees in-between the graves were painted in bright reds and oranges and yellows, the first leaves already having fallen leaving the ground underneath them just as colourful. The air was a little crisp even mid-day as Kakashi walked past rows of stones. He had never been here before, but he knew where the one he was looking for rested.

His fingers tightened around the bouquet in his hands, the sound of crinkling cellophane loud in the eerie quiet of the cemetery. There wasn’t a lot of people around, a little old lady with a watering can trudging down a few rows past him, and a couple standing by another stone, arms around each other. So many stories hidden behind the names engraved on the stones. Lives lived and lost and remembered and then, inevitably, forgotten. 

He should have come years ago but he hadn’t managed to get himself to do it. He’d missed the funeral, had been in the hospital at the time, and then it was too difficult, made what had happened all too real. 

Then he saw the stone in front of him, Obito’s name shining from the pale grey, his date of birth and date of death too close together, and then a simple You will be missed chiselled underneath. A life summed up in a meaningless statement. Of course Obito was missed. He’d left behind a family missing a son. Left behind friend groups a little quieter without him, had left behind Kakashi, a little broken but alive. 

Kakashi hunched down and placed the flowers in front of the headstone. He’d chosen the flowers especially for Obito, a mess of colours and mismatched blooms. Noisy, just like Obito had been. It had seemed right. 

“Hello,” Kakashi said. 

He stayed there for a long time, talking to a friend he’d lost long ago. He told him how he wished that things had been different, but that he appreciated what Obito had done for him. He told him how he became an agent because Obito had no longer been able to, but that he had found that it was right for him as well. That he missed Obito, and that he would have liked Obito to meet Iruka. Kakashi thought that Obito would have liked him. He talked about how important Iruka has become to him, that he loved him, and that he was going to tell Iruka that too because he knew that if Obito was here he would tell him to get off his ass and just tell Iruka how much he meant to Kakashi.

There was something cathartic about getting all the words out in the open. Obito could never answer him, but maybe this wasn’t about Obito at all, this was about Kakashi. Obito had given his life for Kakashi to live, maybe it was about time Kakashi appreciated that gift to the fullest. 

When Kakashi came home, hours later, he went to bed with a heart that felt lighter than it had done in years and years. Sleep came easily and without nightmares.

***

The following day found Kakashi back at work feeling a little lighter than before, and a little raw from ripping into old pains. He still thought that going to see Obito had been a good thing, and even if the pain of losing his friend would always be there maybe it didn’t have to rule his life. 

He started the day by ignoring the stacks of paperwork and moving to his e-mail, looking through possible cases, assigning them to his unit by how urgent they seemed. Some were vague leads to check up on, others were more pressing cases, with vampire sightings or found bodies. The morgue always sent over cases their way if it appeared supernatural. 

He sent off a report about a possible vampire that he was pretty sure was a hoax to Sakura and Lee, when there was a knock on his door, Kurenai striding inside.

“Kakashi, do you have a moment?” she asked.

“Sure,” Kakashi answered, pushing aside some paperwork and sending a longing thought to the book he had stashed away in a desk drawer, intending to read now that he was done with his most prudent work of the day.

Kurenai sat down on the chair in front of his desk, casting the smallest disapproving glance to the stacks of paperwork in front of her. “Morino sent me the report on the secret lab from a few weeks ago, wanted my agents to help trace the magic they’d found at the scene. I’m sure you read the report as well?”

Kakashi nodded, not divulging that he had been following up on the case himself, not yet. It wasn’t like he’d come up with anything of much help, and he hoped Kurenai’s team had been more successful.   
  
“So you know that the explosion was caused by some kind of magic. We first thought some kind of spelled trap, but our research leads me to believe it was elemental in origin. No potion or spell could be that volatile, so we’re looking for a witch, not just anyone with access to potions or spells. Which narrows it down, but still, there’s plenty of witches abound, and fire isn’t an uncommon element in them.” 

Kakashi nodded with interest. The fire had taken down the building so fast, it made sense if it was fuelled by a witch’s energy. He’d barely managed out alive after all. 

“Most elemental magic leaves behind traces of the witch, but our databases didn’t show anything, so if they’ve done anything like this before then they haven’t been caught. But I read your report about what you found down there.”

Kakashi’s report hadn’t been that in-depth, mostly because he hated filling them out, but also because he hadn’t had a lot to report. “I didn’t get much information before it blew up, it was a pretty generic lab, apart from the fact that they kept vampires there, and maybe other beings as well, down there.” He remembered hearing shuffling behind steel doors, it was impossible to tell what had been hiding there. 

Kurenai crossed her arms and cocked her head a little. “You’ve gotten involved in a lot of magic cases lately considering you work in Unit Seven.”

She wasn’t lying. First the lab, then the drugs in the bar and now lately the golem attack. It was all starting to feel a little less coincidental and a little more something else entirely. 

“You are right, and I wish I could tell you I knew why.”

“The drugs in your and Umino’s drinks have been sent for external testing, so we’re waiting for the results for them, and it will still take us a while to see if we can match the magic from all cases together, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. Golems are usually made by fire witches, just like the explosion. Have you angered any witches lately?”

Kakashi considered. The first incident was the secret lab. A vampire had led him to that, which made sense with his job, but it was purely incidental that he was the one to find it and not one of the other agents. He rarely worked in the field at all after all. Then there were Iruka getting drugged, and then Iruka getting lured to the golem-infested house. He’d thought it was Mizuki targeting Iruka, but now he was starting to wonder. 

Had he got it all wrong? Was he the target and not Iruka, was Iruka being put in danger because someone wanted to take out Kakashi? But why? A witch on a vengeance because Kakashi had forced them into destroying their lab? It wasn’t unthinkable, black witches certainly knew how to hold grudges. 

He didn’t see how drugging Iruka was going to accomplish any revenge upon Kakashi though. 

But then he remembered that both of their drinks had been drugged, and Iruka had only been the first to drink, so perhaps Iruka had just had a stroke of bad luck. A witch wanting to make sure Kakashi was drugged and not taking the chance with which drink was his. 

Could luring Iruka to the abandoned house been another trap in the making? Not a trap for Iruka, but one for Kakashi? Kakashi was pretty sure it wouldn’t be too hard for any outsiders to tell that Iruka and he were close. Kakashi never spent any evenings with anyone else, so concluding that they were either close friends or dating wasn’t that far off. 

Shit, he had been looking at this all wrong. Someone was out to get Kakashi, and Iruka was dragged into it by knowing Kakashi. Cold dread rushed through him. If Iruka got hurt it wasn’t just because Kakashi was unable to keep him safe, it was because someone wanted to go after Kakashi. And where would it hurt more than to lose Iruka? 

Kurenai frowned, noting the change in the mood. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, just drawing some conclusions I should have drawn before. I think you are right that all the cases are connected. Can you keep me informed the moment you know more?” 

Kurenai nodded and a few minutes left the room after Kakashi waved her offers of having a protective unit sent to him. Kakashi wasn’t worried about himself, he was worried about Iruka. 

There were still so much he didn’t understand. What the purpose of the lab was and who ran it. If they saw him as a witness and wanted to take him out why hadn’t they done it already? The witch was powerful if they could take down the entire building with a fireball, so it would have been easy enough to get Kakashi cornered and burned to a crisp. Why were they concocting these plans who so easily failed? Drugging their drinks? And what, stealing Mizuki’s phone so they could lure Iruka to a building so they then again could lure Kakashi there? It made no sense, and he was sure he was missing out on something. 

He had to find the witch before someone got hurt. Iruka was only in trouble because of him. If Kakashi hadn’t been around Iruka would have been fine, wouldn’t have been drugged or gone through the golem attack. Kakashi had been foolish to think that this could be his happily ever after. There was too much darkness in Kakashi’s world, and Iruka truly did deserve better. 

He rose from his chair, determination settling over him.

***

Sasuke frowned down at his cell phone, trying to figure out the true meaning of what he had just heard. 

“Who was it?” Naruto yawned next to him, snuggling closer and burrowing his face against Sasuke’s shoulder. 

“It was Kakashi,” Sasuke said.

“Something happen? Do we have to go to work?”

“Not work, no. He said that we had to pick up Iruka from work, take him back here and make sure he was safe. That he needed to stay away from Iruka.”

Naruto sat bolt upright, outrage clear on his face. “What?!” he yelled. Sasuke ignored it, he was used to Naruto’s loud outbursts by now.

“He sounded off. He was too calm and composed. Something must have happened. Maybe something with the attack the other day?”

“You think he knows who sent the golems after Iruka?” 

“I think he knows more than he is about to say, that’s for sure. I think we need to find out, but for now, we should just do as he said. If there’s any chance that Iruka is in danger we will have to protect him until we learn what’s going on.”

Naruto squished Sasuke’s cheeks between his palms and kissed him soundly once, and then scrambled out of bed, throwing on clothes. Sasuke was a little dazed, but shook it off and followed after Naruto. Something was going on, and he intended to find out what, but not until they were sure Iruka was safe. Sasuke had thought things were fine between Iruka and Kakashi, they seemed to care about each other, and Iruka had been good for Kakashi. He would hate to see that crumble apart and would do what he could to help to make sure it wasn’t ruined for some idiotic reason. He felt that he knew Kakashi, that pushing someone away because you were afraid was exactly something he’d do. Sasuke could relate.

Having worked their usual night the time was already two p.m., so by the time they arrived at Iruka’s school classes were out for the day and they found Naruto’s dad in his shared office, working on stapling together what looked like worksheets for class. 

Iruka looked up in surprise when he noticed the two of them enter the room and Sasuke could see how worry instantly washed over him, his back straightening and lips pressing together. He looked like he was expecting bad news. 

Sasuke kind of hated that Iruka was right. 

“What are you doing here, is something wrong?” Iruka asked.

“No, no!” Naruto said, waving his hands in a sort of placating manner. “We’re just here to pick you up.”

“I… usually manage just fine on my own?” Iruka wasn’t dumb, he saw right through Naruto’s slightly strained smile. 

Sasuke saw a grey-haired man sitting near casting furtive glances in their direction, listening in. 

“We’ll talk at home, yeah? I’ll make dinner, we can hang out, haven’t seen you in too long,” Sasuke said, trying to come off as casual. Iruka understood that this was not something to talk about here, so he just nodded and started packing up his work.

“Sounds good, I didn’t have any plans tonight anyways!” he said, sounding cheery, acting well enough that Sasuke didn’t think he would have realised anything was off if he was overhearing the conversation. 

A few minutes later they were walking out of the room, Iruka calling out a goodbye to the grey-haired colleague, getting a saccharine smile and goodbye in return. Sasuke frowned, trying to decide if the other man was just a little creepy, or if there was more behind it.

Iruka took the front passenger seat of the Lexus, Naruto delegated to the backseat, but he didn’t seem too beat up about it, leaning forward and chattering away, trying to clear the tension from the air. 

Iruka was barely inside the door to Naruto and Sasuke’s apartment before he dropped his bag and spun around, demanding answers. 

Truth was that neither Sasuke or Naruto had any answers. Kakashi hadn’t given away much over the phone, and most they had deduced on his own. Kakashi was clearly thinking something was going to happen to Iruka if he was around Kakashi. Which was what worried Sasuke the most. Kakashi was a very capable agent—he never would have been promoted to unit leader if he weren’t—and Sasuke had seen him in the field, knew what he was capable of so he was certain it wasn’t about who could protect Iruka the best, but Kakashi thinking he needed to pull away for some reason. 

“Dad, what’s going on, what’s happening? Why were you attacked and why did Kakashi send us off as bodyguards? All he said was to keep you safe and keep you away from him.” Naruto sounded worried, scared that something was going to happen to his father, and Sasuke didn’t blame him. They both knew how easily one could lose everything, how much danger lurked out in the world. 

Iruka felt a pang of pain at Naruto’s words. Kakashi wanted Iruka to stay away from him? What was going on? “I don’t know much more than you, but I guess I’ll tell you what I do know, maybe you can make more sense of it than me. 

The story didn’t take long to get through. A magical roofie in a bar, and then a golem attack. They’d escalated quickly if they were related, only luck had it that Iruka had thought to call Kakashi for the last incident. Hadn’t he Iruka wouldn’t be here today. Iruka was a capable man, but no weaponless human would have survived being locked in a house with multiple golems. 

Sasuke could see fury and fear on Naruto’s face, and Sasuke was sure Naruto longed to hunt down whoever threatened his dad and only the fact that they had no idea who or why was stopping him. 

“Clearly, Kakashi thinks the incidents are related and that I am in danger because of it. I just can’t see why someone would be targeting me,” Iruka said. He’d sunk onto Sasuke’s couch, looking frustrated. “I mean, I’m a teacher, I’m about as non-threatening as you can get. I’m fairly certain I’ve never hurt anyone, and I teach kids, so I don’t even give out grades for anyone to be upset over.” 

He rubbed at his temples. “I guess something else has happened? Why else would Kakashi suddenly have you pick me up and not just do it himself? Why would he suddenly not want to be around me anymore?”

“He didn’t say much at all.” 

Iruka sighed. “He is going to be stubborn about this too. I should call him.”

When neither Sasuke or Naruto said anything against that Iruka found his cell phone, and called, waiting, foot tapping against the floor. No one seemed to pick up. 

“Where is he now, do you know? At the office?” Iruka asked the two of them.

Naruto looked towards Sasuke as if Sasuke should know. “He didn’t say. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was there, though.” He hesitated a little before adding, “Do you want me to try and call him there?”

“Please do, I want to talk to him, know exactly what I need to watch out for.”

Sasuke pulled up his phone, found the office number, and called. It rang until a generic voice mail cut in, so he hung up. “Doesn’t look like he’s there. Maybe he went home for a while before the unit is supposed to be in?”

“He’s probably at home, ignoring my calls,” Iruka said, sounding less than pleased. “This makes no sense, if he thinks I’m in danger, why would he… Unless…”

Something passed over Iruka’s face, but if he’d made any epiphany he wasn’t sharing it. “Come on, we’re going over there.”


	11. Chapter 11

The buildings passed by in a blur as Iruka stared out the car window. He knew they were drawing nearer to Kakashi’s apartment building and he wasn’t sure what to expect. Kakashi always claimed that Iruka’s apartment was nicer, and Iruka had liked having Kakashi around, so it’d worked out fine with them staying at Iruka’s place.

Worry was eating at him. Kakashi and he had gotten so much closer the last days and now Kakashi was pulling away. Iruka hated it. He had thought Kakashi had gotten comfortable enough with him to know that he could tell Iruka the truth, that they could work through whatever was going on together. Iruka knew he was just human, but even if he couldn’t fight whatever was after him he wanted to support Kakashi. Looked like Kakashi didn’t trust him enough for that. 

Iruka wondered what had happened to make Kakashi do this. He had shown no signs of pulling away earlier but then he sent Naruto and Sasuke to fetch him without offering any explanation, and now he didn’t pick up the phone and Iruka had a really bad feeling. Something must have happened, something bad. At first Iruka wondered if Kakashi had learned something about whoever was trying to take out Iruka, but it didn’t make sense. Why would Kakashi not want to protect him then?

And then Iruka remembered the agony of Kakashi’s story. About his best friend sacrificing himself for Kakashi and Kakashi then waking up as something fearful. Iruka had never once thought not to accept what Kakashi was, but it couldn’t be easy to get over years of self-flagellation, and it wouldn’t take much to push someone back to it. Was Kakashi pulling away because he was afraid of himself? In a way, it made more sense with how Iruka knew Kakashi, but he hated the thought of it and desperately wanted to talk to him. Needed to talk to him, to tell him that they were in this together. Iruka wasn’t afraid of Kakashi and he needed Kakashi to see that. 

The apartment building was plain, newer than Iruka’s by a few decades, all steel and concrete and straight edges. Iruka stepped out onto the pavement, looking up as if the building could offer answers. When it didn’t he walked over to the door and buzzed Kakashi’s apartment. Only a few moments passed before Kakashi’s drawl came over the speaker. 

“Yeah?”

“Kakashi, it’s Iruka.”

Silence on the other end.

“Are you going to let me in, or will I have to scale the building to get to you. I’ll do it, you know.”

Iruka could hear a sigh and then the buzz of the door opening. He headed inside, paying no attention to Naruto and Sasuke walking behind him. The elevator ride was tense, Iruka’s arms crossed, eyes fixed on the floor numbers as they flicked by, and the moment it hit nine he was at the doors, waiting for them to slide apart so he could head down the hallway. 

When he came to the right apartment he saw Kakashi standing in the doorway. He was wearing his usual office apparel, shirt and slacks, but there was a frazzled air about him. The top buttons were undone, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows rather than rolled neatly. There was a stain on his slacks, probably coffee, but it didn’t look like Kakashi had even noticed.

“Can I come inside?” Iruka asked, suddenly feeling unsure now that he saw Kakashi. The other looked more confused than anything and just took a step to the side, letting Iruka inside. 

“You can leave now,” Iruka called out to Naruto and Sasuke who was hovering awkwardly in the doorway. Sasuke looked towards Kakashi, but then shrugged and did as Iruka had said.

“So, care to explain what’s going on?” Iruka said, looking around the apartment. He suddenly realised why Kakashi had preferred staying at Iruka’s place. The apartment was… kind of sad. There were no pictures on any of the walls. The little furniture that was there was strictly utilitarian. No pillows or throws on the couch. No overflowing bookcases. No carpets or curtains other than a pair of dark blinds.  
  
It was less of a home and more of a shell. It felt a little wrong to see it like this. The neighbourhood was nice, and if he looked past the empty whiteness Iruka thought that the apartment could have been nice. Some warmth and softness to make it into a home, add a little more life. Living in a place like this couldn’t help one feel any better, Kakashi deserved more than this. The only thing that made the place seem like someone lived there at all was the coffee table, strewn with papers and a couple of coffee cups. It was clearly where Kakashi had been sitting. 

Kakashi sighed, dragging his hands through his hair. “It’s for your own protection,” he finally said. 

“This is because of the attack?”

“Partially.”

Iruka walked closer to where Kakashi was standing, hands in his pockets, eyes diverted from Iruka. Iruka didn’t stop until he was right in front of Kakashi, and Kakashi’s gaze finally met his. 

“What changed between the last time we talked and now? You didn’t seem adamant to keep away from me until now. Rather the opposite.”

“Nothing changed, I just realised something.”

“What did you realise? That you are a half-vampire and that I’m supposed to be afraid of you? I’m just a weak human and you have to protect me from you?”

Kakashi’s visible eye widened in surprise. “No! Not that, never that. I’ve never seen you as weak.”

“Then what, Kakashi? What happened to make you push me away?”

Kakashi frowned a little. “What exactly did Sasuke and Naruto tell you?”

“For them to keep me away from you. So I figure it’s either something I did or something you think you’re going to do.”

Kakashi let out a small sigh, half-way annoyed and half-way relieved. “Well, you’re not completely wrong at least. It’s not that I don’t want you around, Iruka, it’s that you’re not safe around me, not right now. I want to be with you, but more than that I want you safe.”

Iruka didn’t feel placated at that. He hated how Kakashi instinct was to pull away rather than talk to him. He thought they were more than that.

“But why won’t I be safe around you? You do remember telling me about what you are and me accepting you?”

Kakashi paced the room. “It’s not that. I’m pretty sure I misunderstood everything, and that the real target for all the attacks was… me. You were just pulled into everything because of me, because you are close to me, and I can’t put you in that kind of danger.”

“You? But, why did they go after me then?” Iruka frowned, going through the events and trying to shift them in his mind.

“Because for anyone looking it’s clear you’re special to me. In the bar both of our drinks were drugged only I never got around to drinking from mine. Then in the house with the golems I’m thinking they were hoping you’d call me for help when you realised you were in trouble. The golems never did go directly for you, they attacked me. I thought it was just because I was the one to engage them, but now I’m not so certain. You said it yourself, you’re a school teacher. It never made sense that someone would try to kill you. I thought it was Mizuki at first since he’s creepily interested in you, but then it made no sense that he would kill you.” 

“You think they want to kill you? But why?” 

Kakashi motioned over to the couch and they both sat down, Kakashi telling Iruka about the crack house he’d barely managed to escape, the secret lab downstairs and his theory. “I figure they want me dead as revenge for finding and forcing them to destroy their lab.”

Iruka pulled his knees to his chest and looked at Kakashi, mulling over what he’d just heard. “So the roofies, and the house… it’s all very convoluted, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s why I didn’t connect the dots earlier.”

“You sure they want to kill you? The roofies, they’d never kill you. They are used to incapacitate a person, aren’t they? Make them easy to handle, unable to put up a fight? And then the house, with the golems. Why not just another fireball? Are we sure the golems wanted to kill you? What if they were trying to capture you?”

Kakashi considered it and then nodded. “It’s not impossible. The golem did catch me first, it might not have intended to go as far as suffocate me. Golems are mindless soldiers, so if they got bad instructions from their makers they could think that encasing me in the clay would mean I was caught. They don’t know that other beings need air to breathe.”

Iruka slumped against the couch, head tilting back, thoughts swirling in his mind. He was a teacher, he wasn’t made out for this. His only connection to the supernatural world had been Naruto. Now look at him, dating a half-vampire who was the target of an angry witch, having narrowly escaped a lair of animated clay monsters. In the teacher’s lounge the other teachers talked about the latest episode of whatever TV-show they were watching, which was so far removed from Iruka’s reality. He didn’t need horror shows or action movies, he was living in one. 

“I hate that you’ve been targeted because of me. That’s why I wanted you to keep your distance until I could figure out what was going on, I wanted to ensure you were safe. Around me you’re a target.” Kakashi’s voice was quiet, pained. 

Iruka frowned, lifting his head and giving Kakashi a hard look. He was quite angry at how Kakashi was taking all kinds of decisions on Iruka’s behalf. Iruka might be a measly human teacher in a world of supernatural beings and sword-wielding agents, but he was more than capable of making his own decisions. 

“Kakashi,” he said firmly, shifting on the couch, leaning towards him. “I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before, but you are an idiot.” 

Kakashi’s eyes widened a little, this was clearly not what he had been expecting Iruka to say. 

“I’m a grown man, Kakashi, I can make my own decisions. If your theory is right then this witch already know we are involved, I hardly doubt you staying away is going to take me off the hit list that easily, and frankly, I’d feel a lot safer with you around. Who’s to say they won’t go through me to get to you again?”

“It’s my fault, I never should have allowed myself to get clo—”

Iruka cut him off. “No! You do not get to throw away what we have because you are afraid. There was no way you could have known this would happen and I don’t regret it in the slightest. You are important to me, Kakashi, and we can figure this out, but we do it together. Did you learn nothing from seeing Naruto and Sasuke? Running away does nothing good. I can promise that I will do whatever I can to stay safe, but I don’t think staying away from you is it.”

Kakashi just stared at him, clearly not having expected a speech, and Iruka muttered, “So dumb,” and grabbed the edge of Kakashi’s mask so he could pull it down and kiss him. It took Kakashi a moment to reciprocate the kiss, but then he pressed back against Iruka’s lips with a broken little sound deep in his throat. Iruka’s arms wrapped around Kakashi’s neck, and Kakashi’s arms around Iruka’s waist, pulling him closer. Iruka went willingly, sliding one leg over Kakashi’s lap so he was straddling him, relishing in the strong body underneath him, the arms holding him so tight, the tongue licking at his lips.  
  
“You’re not getting rid of me this easy, Hatake,” Iruka mumbled into the kiss.

Kakashi chuckled. “I should have known, Naruto gets his stubbornness from you, doesn’t he?”

Iruka pulled away and laughed, feeling elated. “You bet.” 

He stayed in Kakashi’s lap, forehead pressed against forehead, soft smiles on both their lips. 

“So, you found a secret lab doing illegal experiments and forced them to destroy the entire thing. So now a witch is angry at you for ruining their plans and they want some kind of revenge, that’s the gist of it?”

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, and his arms tightened around Iruka’s waist. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“And your only clues are the blood bags stolen from the hospital and the fact that it’s definitely a witch involved. So we’re looking for a witch who either works at the hospital, or knowns someone who works at the hospital, or just bought the blood on the black market?”

Kakashi sighed. “Yup.”

“Sounds easy enough to track down,” Iruka said, and Kakashi’s lips quirked up in a small grin. “How do you even tell the difference between witches and humans?”

“Well, that’s kind of the problem. Unless they do magic in front of you there’s no way to tell. Hence the Salem witch trials. They couldn’t tell the difference between actual witches and humans, so they just killed any woman who seemed a little different. Male witches had it easy.”

“So, we’re looking for someone who looks human, is either a woman or a man, and has some connections to the hospital. Or the black market. Possibly.”

“Yup.”

Iruka considered. “We should lay a trap. If we can’t track them down we have to flush them out. We could use me as bait some way, perhaps.”

“No.” The words were out of Kakashi’s mouth within a second. “I will not do anything to jeopardise your safety. It’s too dangerous. They are a fire elemental, which means they’ll be volatile by nature, there’s no way to tell what they might do, so there’s no way to ensure you stay safe.”

“You can’t just lock me up or send me away. There’s no telling how long it will take you to track the witch down. I have a job with kids who depend upon me.”

“I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you,” Kakashi said, voice soft as his grip tightened around Iruka’s body. 

Iruka stroked small circles with his thumbs at the nape of Kakashi’s neck, tracing over the short hairs there. “I’m not going to do anything reckless, but I don’t want to go into hiding or stay away from you just because something may happen. It’s still just a theory. Maybe it was all unrelated. The drugs in the bar might have just been any old creep. The golem attack, sure, a little harder to explain, but still. There’s so much that doesn’t make sense about that, like how would a witch get Mizuki to call me there? There must’ve been easier ways to do all this. If they truly wanted you they could just… kidnap me straight out or something? People get kidnapped or murdered all the time.”

“Don’t remind me how fragile humans are,” Kakashi muttered.

Iruka laughed. “You are still mostly human you know, don’t speak about me like I’m some butterfly that will die from a simple touch.” 

Kakashi looked at him, one eye still hidden behind his eye patch, so Iruka lifted his hand to it, hesitating to see if Kakashi wanted him to stop, but he made no motion to do so. Slowly Iruka pulled it off, exposing the eye underneath, scar running through it, iris bright red.  
  
Kakashi blinked up at him. The different coloured eyes were stunning, and Iruka lifted a hand and gently let his thumb glide down over the scar, softly across the puckered skin. Kakashi’s eyes closed, and his lips parted on a soft breath. Iruka leaned in and kissed him gently. 

Strong arms tightened around his waist, safe, comforting, and Iruka pressed closer to him as they kissed, soft and unhurried. 

Iruka was feeling warm, any anger of thinking Kakashi was trying to push him away long gone, and he wished they could just stay like this, curled up together, enjoying each other. He thought he could be happy like this. 

He had always claimed he hadn’t missed having a significant other, that being Naruto’s father was enough for him, but having Kakashi was filling a part of him he hadn’t known was cold and lonely. It felt right to have someone to talk to, someone to kiss, someone that supported and cared for him. Someone to love. 

He sat back on Kakashi’s knees, looking down on the man underneath him. Strong, beautiful, caring. Everything Iruka could have ever wanted. He’d been there for him when Naruto had left them, and he’d saved his life. Not only that though, it was the conversations, the way they could just sit together in silence and feel perfectly at ease. The way he looked at Iruka as if Iruka was something truly precious.  
  
“I love you, Kakashi. We will figure things out together, but I don’t want you to pull away because you fear for what could happen to me. It hurts too much not to have you.”

Kakashi’s eyes were wide, and his lips a little parted in apparent surprise. 

Iruka laughed a little awkward and gently slapped Kakashi’s shoulder. “Oh, as if you didn’t already know I loved you.”

Slowly, a grin spread on Kakashi’s face, and then he pulled Iruka close and kissed him, hard and sweet and joyful.

“I love you too, Iruka, more than I thought I could. You’ve made me believe in happiness.”

Tears prickled in Iruka’s eyes. “Will you let me stay by your side now? We’ll face whoever it is together.”

Kakashi swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and then he nodded. “Yeah. But you have to be careful, I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Don’t take any chances.”

Iruka smiled softly. “I’m not that reckless, Kakashi. Not anymore at least.”

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed.

A laugh bubbled in Iruka’s chest. “I used to be a menace,” he admitted. “Self-appointed class clown, daredevil, anything to get some attention. That was how I got the scar, you know?” he said, pointing to the ragged line that carved over his nose. “A dare gone wrong. Got caught on barbed wire. It hurt so bad, but I just laughed it off and bandaged it myself. Probably needed stitches, but I lived in a foster home, and they wouldn’t have bothered taking me to the doctor unless it was life-threatening.”

He could feel Kakashi’s hands tighten around him, saw the frown on his face. Iruka hadn’t told anyone about his childhood before. It hadn’t been great, and he acted out a lot. People who knew him as an adult probably would have never guessed. 

“It’s part of why I adopted Naruto. I saw a lot of myself in him, I guess.” He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. 

“You are an amazing man, Iruka Umino, you know that?”

Iruka looked away, cheeks feeling warm, but then gentle fingers curled underneath his chin, lifting it until their eyes met again. 

“I mean it,” Kakashi said. “You amaze me. The ease with which you deal with things that would have most people run away. You’ve stayed by Naruto’s side when no one else would. You accepted me where my own family couldn’t. There might be an angry witch going after you, but you refuse to cower. You are amazing, through and through.”

The way Kakashi kissed him, so reverently, like Iruka was something precious, had heat tingling through him, and Iruka pressed close, feeling overwhelmed by Kakashi’s words. He had never considered himself anything special, but there was unwavering conviction behind Kakashi’s every word, and it was hard not to believe them. 

Their kisses grew a little more feverish, hands got a little more adventurous, and soon Kakashi’s fingers were delving under the hem of the sweater Iruka was wearing, and Iruka had the back of Kakashi’s t-shirt in his fist, yanking at it until it tugged free and he could throw it away, leaving Kakashi bare-chested underneath him. Stunning, nothing but lean muscle, nothing like the soft tummy no amount of jogging could get rid of that Iruka carried. He didn’t much care, but it was a little intimidating met with the rows of muscles that made up Kakashi’s abdomen. 

Before he could grow self-conscious his sweater was pulled over his head, and Kakashi’s heated gaze swept over every inch of him, and if he disapproved of Iruka’s body it was impossible to tell because there was nothing but heat and love in his gaze as he looked up at Iruka before tugging him close for another kiss.  
  
His ponytail was a little skewed, but Kakashi remedied that by yanking the elastic out, letting Iruka’s hair fall around his face, soft, brushing against his collarbones.

Fingers pushed into the strands, and Iruka moaned as strong fingers dragged against his scalp. 

“You are so beautiful,” Kakashi said, leaning in and kissing along Iruka’s collarbone.”Stunning, handsome, perfect.”

Iruka could feel heat on his cheeks against, completely unused to attention like this. 

Between touches and kisses they got rid of the rest of their clothes, nothing between them as they pressed together, chest against chest, Iruka’s thighs framing Kakashi’s hips, their cocks sliding together. Iruka had his arms around Kakashi’s neck, and Kakashi’s hands were holding tight to Iruka’s hips, easing him back and forth with a gentle push and drag. 

Iruka curved his back and got his mouth on Kakashi’s neck, tonguing against skin and dragging his teeth down it. Kakashi shuddered underneath him, fingers tightening around Iruka’s hips, so Iruka did it again. 

“I want you,” he panted against Kakashi’s skin. Passion was rushing through him, a heady warmth curling inside, urging him on.

“Fuck, hah, want you too,” Kakashi stuttered, voice a little ragged. “I don’t have any lube here though, it’s in the—oh god yes, like that—in the bedroom.”

Iruka groaned as Kakashi’s cock slid alongside his, precome sliding down their lengths. “Can’t wait that long,” he muttered, and then he slid down Kakashi’s legs to stand on shaky legs before pushing Kakashi’s legs apart and sinking to his knees. 

Kakashi’s eyes widened, lips parting on an exhale when he saw Iruka kneeling in front of him, grinning up at him. Iruka had the feeling he was looking all kinds of debauched already. Hair a mess around his face from the way Kakashi had dragged his fingers through it, lips swollen from kisses, cheeks flushed. 

He rested a hand on Kakashi’s thigh before leaning in, wrapping his lips around the tip of Kakashi’s cock, keeping eye contact as he slid down Kakashi’s length. 

“Oh my god,” Kakashi breathed. 

It had been years since Iruka had last had a cock in his mouth, and it felt nice to have the taste of it on his tongue, to feel his lips stretch around it, to see the look of absolute amazement on Kakashi’s face. 

Joy bubbled in his chest, and he pulled away to grin up at Kakashi, head resting against one strong thigh. “I had no idea how much I missed this,” he said.

“Ah, I’m... happy to please you?” Kakashi said uncertain, and Iruka laughed more. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just… really happy?” he said between soft laughs. “I’m so happy I met you, Kakashi. It’s worth all the trouble.”

Kakashi reached on, soft fingers tracing along Iruka’s cheek, pushing his hair behind his ear. “I am so happy I met you too,” he said back. 

“Okay, I’m gonna suck you off now, please feel free to come in my mouth,” Iruka said, one hand wrapping around Kakashi’s cock to keep his steady as he sank down on the length again, moaning a little at the way it filled his mouth, the bittersweet taste of precome spreading on his tongue. 

He gagged a little when he took him too deep, so he eased off, focusing on the head, licking around it and sucking gently, hand slowly moving up and down the shaft. His gaze was still on Kakashi, seeing how Kakashi was breathing heavy, how his hands were twitching a little where they rested on his thighs. 

There was a rush to know he was completely in charge of Kakashi’s pleasure, that what he was doing was the reason Kakashi’s eyes were blown wide, that he was hard and twitching a little in his mouth. 

“Iruka…” Kakashi said hoarsely. “So… good.”

A feeling of pride swelled in Iruka’s chest, a strangely empowering feeling, and he lost himself in it a little, in the way his mouth took Kakashi in, in the feeling of his velvety skin against Iruka’s tongue, and the way Kakashi gasped when Iruka flicked his tongue just right. 

“I’m not gonna last,” Kakashi warned, and Iruka just hummed around his length. He wanted Kakashi to give in and come in his mouth, wanted to be the one to bring him to completion, wanted the taste of him to fill his mouth.

He licked across the slit, and then sealed his lips around him again, using his hand to tighten around the length as he took as much of Kakashi in as he could, bobbing his head, and it didn’t take long before Kakashi was mumbling out another warning. Iruka kept sucking him off, eyes opening to look up at him. He saw when Kakashi came, his mouth falling open as his back arched. Warm come filled Iruka’s mouth, thick and unfamiliar. He had to focus not to gag on it, kept his mouth around Kakashi until he was spent and softening a little. Only then did he pull away, swallowing and looking up at Kakashi with eyes a little blurry with tears. 

Kakashi was heaving for his breath, eyes a bit unfocused.”Ah-amazing,” he stuttered out, and Iruka couldn’t help but to giggle, feeling happy and elated, and so in love.  
  
Kakashi breathed for a few more seconds, and then he leaned forward enough to grab Iruka, hoisting him up against him. 

“I have no idea what I ever did to deserve someone like you. Kind, handsome, and a fiend in bed on top of it.” He kissed Iruka and lingered against his lips. “But now, it’s my turn.”

He showed the strength coiled up his muscles as he shifted Iruka with ease, moving him until Iruka was sitting in his lap with his back against Kakashi’s chest, legs spread over Kakashi’s thighs. He felt exposed even if no one could see, and it made him shiver.  
  
Kakashi had one arm around Iruka’s chest, and the other was resting on his thigh, palm warm and strong against his skin. Iruka gasped and let his head fall back against Kakashi’s shoulder.

“Let me take care of you,” Kakashi whispered near his ear, and Iruka could only nod.   
Kakashi’s palm swiped over the head of Iruka’s cock through the wetness there, and then moved down his length, curling around it, grip firm in just the right way. 

“So hard for me,” he said, and Iruka shuddered, twisting his head so he could kiss Kakashi, gasping into his mouth as Kakashi started moving his hand. 

There was just something about an unfamiliar touch on his cock, moving a little different than he would, a little unpredictable, that was making Iruka’s mind spin. Kakashi’s touch grew surer with every pant and gasp from Iruka, thumb swiping over the most sensitive spots, teasing touches. 

“You are so amazing, look at you, so beautiful,” Kakashi said, and Iruka couldn’t find his own words, just let himself wash away in the pleasure coursing through him, the warmth of Kakashi’s words filling his chest. 

When the arm around his chest moved up, two fingers tapping against Iruka’s bottom lip, he was quick to suck them into his mouth, swiping his tongue around them, wetting them, and then they pulled away, and Kakashi was pressing them against his opening while still moving his other hand on Iruka’s cock, and it was all so good. 

A finger breached him, pushing inside, and Iruka clenched around it. 

The angle was a little awkward, and Kakashi couldn’t push in far, but it was enough to have Iruka spiralling to an orgasm fast, especially when the second finger pushed in, stretching his opening, making his nerves tingle pleasantly. 

“Look at you, so good for me,” Kakashi said, voice ragged and a little rough as he kept fucking shallowly into him, the other hand circling the head of Iruka’s cock, and it was too much, Iruka was going to—

“Kakashi!” Iruka gasped as his abdomen tightened and he came, thick ropes of white over Kakashi’s hand and his own stomach. Kakashi worked him through it, only stopping when Iruka was twitching from oversensitivity. 

Strong arms wrapped around his torso, holding him tight to Kakashi’s chest. “You are too good for me, Iruka.”

Iruka was too exhausted to say anything against that, so he just buried his face against Kakashi’s neck, breathing in the smell of him. Being with Kakashi was worth the threat of a witch on a rampage. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, I hope you all are well! Is it becoming apparent that I love Iruka yet? (One guess which Naruto character I cosplay XD)


	12. Chapter 12

  
_The blackness of hellfire was all-consuming, a force so strong she couldn’t have withstood it if she tried. Free and untamed and devastating she let it reign, let it do what she had failed to do._

  
***

The start of her nightmare had been a night like any other. The moon was almost full in a clear spring sky. A pop song so generic it faded into the background was playing as she drove home from work. The evening shift had been long and tiresome, and she longed to come home, get into her pyjamas and have a cup of tea before bed. Her boyfriend should be up still, waiting for her like he usually did. She could do with one of his hugs right about now. 

Their shared apartment was small and cosy, and even though it had felt strange to move out of her childhood home last year it was nice to have a place of their own. Besides, her parents lived a ten-minute walk away, so she was there all the time, cooking up potions around the massive kitchen island with them and her sister. In the apartment she had to make do with a small square of a kitchen counter so she kept the big potions for when she visited at home. 

The first sign that something was wrong came when she parked in her spot outside the apartment building and saw that the windows of the apartment were all dark. They usually always kept the light on in the kitchen, and she was sure her boyfriend would be curled up on the couch with the TV tuned to ESPN, but she couldn’t see the flickering blue light of it. 

She frowned to herself as she grabbed her bag and got out of the car. Maybe he had gone to bed already. It was late after all, and he did have work in the morning. 

She unlocked the door to the apartment quietly, not wanting to disturb him in case he was sleeping. There were no lights on inside at all, which was odd because he knew she didn’t like coming home to darkness. It wasn’t like him to forget to leave at least a small lamp on.

“Hello?” she called into the darkness as her hands fumbled for the light switch. It clicked, but no light came on. Maybe a fuse had blown, which would explain the darkness. No electricity meant no TV as well, so maybe that’s why he’d gone to bed already. She let out a soft breath and held out a palm, exhaling once as bright flames erupted over her skin, dancing softly and lighting the space.

Walking into the kitchen she tried to remember if the apartment had circuit breakers or actual fuses, and it took her a split second to register that the room wasn’t empty. She startled and took a step backwards when she saw that someone was sitting on her kitchen counter, clearly waiting for her. For a split-second she thought it was her boyfriend, but it was immediately clear it wasn’t. 

Magic surged through her, ready in an instant to protect her from danger, but she held it back, not wanting to burn down her home. “Who are you?” she said with a shaky voice, the flames around her hand flickering. She could see the other person clearly in the firelight. A woman, one knee hooked over the other, looking perfectly at ease with the situation. She was beautiful with her silky black hair and dark eyes, and at the same time terrifying.

The woman’s dark-painted lips quirked into an icy smile as she leapt down from the counter with the smooth agility of a cat, landing lightly on tall heels. 

“You can call me as Mizu, and I’m here with a proposition for you.”

She took a step backwards, away from the strange woman in her home. She had no idea who this person was and she was not interested in any prepositions this _Mizu_ might have. 

“I think you have the wrong person,” she tried, but Mizu just smiled and swept her dark hair over her shoulder.

“Oh, no, we have the right person, _Rin Nohara_.”

Rin wrapped her arms around her body in a futile attempt to protect herself. The other woman had made no attempt to attack, but there was something dark about her, and Rin didn’t trust her.

“I’m here because of the human you live with.”

Fear surged through Rin. What had this woman done to him? “Where is he, where’s my boyfriend?” she asked, voice a little shaky.

A pointed nail painted a deep blue moved to her cheek, dragging down it softly, and Rin shuddered, wanting to turn and run, but she was frozen to the floor. This Mizu might have done something to her boyfriend, so Rin had to stay, had to know.

“I represent the Mist coven, and your little human plaything is in debt to us.”

Rin’s eyes widened. He was in debt with a coven? He wasn’t a witch, but he had her, so if he had troubles that needed magical solutions he should have come to her. It made no sense. Rin hadn’t even heard about this Mist coven, and she had lived amongst witches her entire life. How had he gotten mixed up with them?

“We helped him out a few months ago, and he has not paid off his debt. Time was running out, so he told us about you. A fire witch who pretends to be a simple nurse when she can be anything she wants in the world. It’s a shame about the wasted potential, we could use someone like you in our coven.” 

“What have you done with him?” Rin exclaimed as the words sunk in.

“Oh, we haven’t done anything with him. He packed a bag and left, probably to find someone else to take advantage of.”

Rin blinked. He’d… left? What had he done, paid off his debts by offering up her? She felt nauseated. She’d loved him, it made no sense, why would he do this?

“Humans and their idiotic past times. Gambling, can you imagine. What an idiotic thing to care about. _I just need a potion for luck, just this once, I’m going to win big_.” Mizu said, clearly mocking him. 

Gambling? Rin had no idea he gambled. She needed to sit down, but she thought it might make her feel even more vulnerable. 

“So he won big, but then he lost it all because luck is fleeting. And he felt his life was worth more than you, so here I am.”

“What do you want with me?”

“We want to unleash your potential. He’s a measly human, he’ll soon get in trouble again, and it wasn’t like we need his money after all. You though, you are intriguing. You could be strong and I would like to help you become what you deserve to be. No need trying to keep these humans alive when you could do something bigger.”

“I like my job,” Rin said quietly.

“Well, I would prefer it if you came willingly, but it’s not an offer you can say no to. A debt must be fulfilled. Work for us, and he goes free.”

“He sold me off to pay off a debt, why should I care what you do with him?” Rin spat, knowing to herself that even if he’d betrayed her she still wasn’t going to let them just kill him. Mizu didn’t have to know that though.

“You’re a nurse, I wouldn’t think you’d want his death on your conscience.”

Rin didn’t answer, so Mizu kept on. “I can sense the potential in your power. Help us out and we will help you unlock that potential. You’ll be stronger than you could have ever dreamt of, and at the same time, your little boyfriend will be safe. Or do it for yourself, it’s not like you need him.”

“And if I don’t want to help you, what if I’m perfectly happy with how things are?”

Mizu placed the tip of her fingernail against Rin’s chin, digging into the flesh slightly, just enough to emphasise her words. 

“The debt must be paid. The human can’t, so we’ll just have to find some other way. You come from a family of witches, am I right? They aren’t as strong as you, but I’m sure we could find _some_ use for them.” The words were dark with malice, and the small smile on Mizu’s lips was completely emotionless. 

“I will find you tomorrow. You better have made up your mind by then. Join us and we will make you more powerful than you could have imagined. Refuse and… Well, you’ll just have to see.”

Mizu brushed against Rin as she walked past her, skinny heels clicking against the floor. “Tomorrow,” she said as she walked out the door, leaving Rin alone in a dark apartment, alone and afraid. 

Her emotions were in turmoil and she could feel the fire that was her magic swirl within. She knew she probably could do more with her magic, but she’d never wanted to be particularly strong, was happy with how things were. Creating simple potions and spells with her family to help plants grow or to ease sorrow. Helping people at the hospital, sneaking in the odd potion to remove aches when drugs didn’t work. How could he have done this to her? She thought he loved her, but now he’d left her like this, forced to join a coven that terrified her or risk them harming her family. 

She wept silently in the darkness.

The following day she said yes to Mizu. 

***

The next weeks were spent at the coven’s home, a massive house on a sprawling lawn on the outskirts of the city. Mizu watched her always, testing her, trying to make Rin do magic she’d never even dreamed about before. Rin hated it, hated the feeling of pushing her body to do what it didn’t want to, hated the tang of darkness she could feel in Mizu’s spells, but she knew she had to comply to keep her family safe.

After a particularly bad night she’d contemplated never coming back. She’d yelled at Mizu before stalking off, not answering the next time she called. The following morning her sister had called Rin and said that the family cat had been found dead. 

Rin couldn’t prove that Mizu had anything to do with it, cats died all the time, but she was too scared to test the theory, so she came back to the coven, doing what Mizu asked of her. Mizu didn’t mention the cat, but Rin could feel the threat of something happening to her loved ones and was too terrified to do anything other than obey. 

She’d just have to endure until the debt was paid off. She had no idea what the debt was and how long she’d have to work for the coven, had been too afraid to ask, but there had to be an end to this. 

Currently, it was nighttime and Rin was out in the garden, standing in a stone circle underneath a full moon, arms to her side, fire dancing over her palms as she tried to empty her mind, trying to follow Mizu’s instructions. She failed. She always failed. She was certain the coven had it all wrong, Rin wasn’t particularly powerful at all, was just an ordinary witch, and Rin’s biggest fear was that when they found out they would not only get rid of her but her family as well. What use was a mediocre witch, they were a dime a dozen, and there had to be tons of them willingly wanting to join a coven like Mist.

“You’re not doing as I’m telling you. You have to let the magic flow through you.” Mizu was slowly circling the stone circle, sharp eyes watching Rin, those painted nails tapping her bottom lip. Rin had yet to figure out what to make of Mizu. One moment she was all saccharine pleasantry, and the next she was ice cold threats. 

“I’m trying,” Rin said, voice shaky.

“I think you are too locked in your mind for now. We need to think new. You are working at the hospital tomorrow, yes?”

Rin nodded. Mizu had made Rin keep going to her human job as a nurse. Rin wasn’t sure if it was out of some idea to keep some normality in Rin’s life or if there was some other reason, but she didn’t question it. It was hard to act normal around her coworkers, but it was good to get away from the coven’s home and forget about anything that wasn’t patients.

“Afterwards I want you to go somewhere. I think you will be better suited to helping us with other work for now, until your magic settles a little more. You have the expertise to help in another endeavour of others, you might like it.” 

Rin didn’t even have it in her to protest, so when the shift ended the following day she was taken to a decrepit house in a shady part of the city and lead into the basement. She was surprised when steel doors opened on what looked like a surprisingly high-tech laboratory. A tech welcomed her and showed her around, and for a moment she forgot all about the coven and her family as she took in the equipment and tried to figure out what they were doing down here. 

“This is our latest specimen,” the tech said and motioned towards a glass door. Rin peered inside, wondering what she was going to see and recoiling moments later. A man was lying on a steel table, guts exposed as a woman in a lab coat slowly pulled out his intestines. Rin had seen a lot during her time as a nurse, but the truly startling part was that the man was alive, head straining up against steel bands binding his limbs to the table. Then his eyes opened and they were bright red.

“He’s a vampire,” the tech said. “Fresh turn, only brought him in a couple of days ago. Quite a bloodthirsty guy!” 

Rin felt nauseous. 

“Let me show you where you’ll be helping out,” the tech continued as if there was nothing disconcerting with pulling the intestines out of a vampire. What the hell was going on down here?

***

The hospital never rested, always someone around, but the blood labs were pretty deserted in the middle of the night, the only ones around those picking up blood bags for patients. Rin dodged them as she walked inside, waiting in a nearby lab until the storage room was clear again. 

She had requested a transfer to the blood bank at Mizu’s insistence and had worked as a phlebotomist for the last weeks. Only yesterday it was clear why Mizu had thought it a good department for Rin to work in. 

_We need more blood to keep the subjects alive. You are capable of that, aren’t you?_ She’d asked Rin in that condescending voice of hers, like Rin was stupid and couldn’t be trusted with anything. Rin had just nodded, knowing that disagreeing would only lead to thinly veiled threats to her family’s life. 

Rin hadn’t spoken much with her family since Mizu’s first showed up in her apartment. It was too hard, to see them, to imagine what would happen to them if she failed. So she pulled away, using her boyf—ex—as an excuse. Saying he’d left her and that she just needed to be alone for a while had them worried but understanding.

It was easy enough to load the blood bags up on a trolley, less so to make sure no one stopped her, but she’d spent the day preparing spells to make the security cameras glitch and people to look the other way. She felt disgusted with herself as she loaded the bags into the car. This blood was meant to save peoples’ lives, not to be used in vile experiments. 

She steeled herself, not allowing the sobs growing inside to be free, and then she drove back to the lab.

***

The lab in the basement of the abandoned building was cold and sterile, and if she didn’t focus on who they were working on Rin could almost pretend she was just working at the hospital. Taking blood samples, analysing test results, administering shots. She just had to keep from meeting the gaze of whoever she was working on, had to ignore the heavy steel shackles that kept them immobile, had to remove herself from the situation as much as she could. 

Even if she wasn’t in charge of anything, it hadn’t taken long before she realised what Mist was working on in their secret lab. They had several vampires locked away in cells, finding new ones on the street whenever one of the test subjects… failed. They weren’t testing on them to find some way of reversing the change from human to vampire, or to find some great weapon against the vampires.

No, Mist was working on creating a new species altogether. Vampires were strong, agile, enhanced, but they deemed everyone not a vampire as beneath them, humans and witches alike. Mist wanted to take the strengths and utilise it, making the perfect soldier. What they might need soldiers for Rin had no idea, and she didn’t want to know.

They wanted a hybrid, something strong they could control, but so far it kept failing. The vampire parts overpowered the human parts, no matter if it was a normal human, a witch, a shapeshifter or any of the other species Mist was testing against. They just weren’t compatible, the vampire blood too strong. 

This night she’d been tasked with taking the vitals of one the vampire they were currently experimenting on when things went to hell. She’d just taken a blood sample—looking away from its face, not wanting to see those red eyes staring at her—and was on the way back out of the cell the vampire was shackled up in when she heard the first scream. It was chaos after that, and it wasn’t until later that Rin realised that one of the other test subjects had gotten free and was currently tearing through the other workers in anger or hunger or both. The vampire behind her must have sensed what was going on, because it started straining against its chains, jaws snapping as it growled, and Rin refused to turn around, just pressed up against the steel door, listening to the screams outside, loud and panicked until they cut off, one by one. 

Rin was shaking. She was locked in a small steel box with a demon who wanted nothing but to eat her, and outside was more of them. Mist had been playing with fire keeping vampires locked up, it shouldn’t be a surprise that sooner or later one of them would break free.

Rin wasn’t helpless, she could protect herself if she needed to, but she didn’t move from the relative safety of the cell until there was nothing but silence outside. No screams, no growls, no steps. 

“You think you are safe here with me?” 

Rin startled and turned around before she could think to stop herself. The vampire chained across the room looked at her from her position on the floor, heavy shackles around arms, legs and neck. She was immobile, and the times Rin had been here before the vampire had barely moved, just watched her with a keen gaze. 

Rin didn’t answer her. 

“It was only a matter of time. They got what they deserved. Filthy humans. We’ll all be free soon, and then we’ll be able to feed again. I’ll drain you first. Blood for blood, only fair.”

Rin was surprised the vampire was this coherent. She looked gaunt and probably hadn’t been fed more than the absolute minimum the months she’d been locked down here. Her collarbones were sharp against drawn skin, and her skin grey and dirty. Rin would argue that she wasn’t human, but she didn’t think much would come from arguing with a vampire. Besides, most of the workers in the lab were indeed humans. She didn’t know how Mist had gotten all of them to work for the coven, and she hadn’t asked. She’d kept her head low and done what was asked of her. Anything to keep her family safe.

What would happen if Rin didn’t get out of here, if the vampire was still lurking out in the hallways, waiting for her?

Would Mist take it as a failure and go after her family? 

_The debt must be paid._

She couldn’t risk it. She had to get out and make things right again. 

With shaking fingers she pushed on the touchpad that allowed her to open the cell door, and carefully she peered into the hallway. 

It was carnage. Blood was smeared all over the floor, and she could see a body lying only a few feet away, neck torn open, blank eyes staring up at the ceiling. 

“We’ll make sure we get our vengeance, little witch. I’ll enjoy draining you—”

Rin closed the door behind her, cutting off the vampire’s voice until it was just a faint mumble she could ignore. 

The lab was eerily quiet in a way it had never been as long as Rin had been here. No talking, no squeaky wheel of trolleys being pushed. No pained grunts from vampires having their guts split open. 

She sidestepped one of the pools of blood and pointedly looked away from the body on the floor, not wanting to know who it was. There was nothing Rin could do for them, and she had to keep her head clear. The vampire might still be here, lurking behind a corner, waiting for her. She had to get away and find Mizu, tell her what happened. Shit, she didn’t want to know how Mizu would take this, dreaded it, afraid it might mean she’d doomed her family. She had to find a way to make things right. 

A faint sound had Rin rush into the nearest room, back pressed against the wall as she tried to figure out the best way to deal with a vampire. They tended to be decently flammable, so she was sure she would be able to take one down. She just hoped he wouldn’t return with his friends. 

Rin tried to control her breathing as she heard heavy footsteps down the hallway, wearing off into one of the other examination rooms. She didn’t think it was a vampire, whoever it was seemed too calm and composed for that. A vampire would be driven mad with all the blood in the air. Rin should get out, flee while she could. Whoever it was had come from the main entrance, so that was a no go, but there was a back entrance, just a room away. 

She peered into the hallway and when she didn’t immediately see anyone there she rushed to the neighbouring room. 

“This is the DPA, show yourself!” she heard someone say behind her, and fear lanced through her. Nothing they had done down here was legal, the DPA would not approve. They would find out who was behind it and take them down, but somehow Rin didn’t think the DPA was quite enough to stop Mizu and her coven. 

Fuck, the DPA was even worse than runaway vampires. Mizu would have her head if she knew Rin had let them find the lab and get away. She had to fix this, for her family. 

She heard the agent behind her, and as a rabbit from a fox, she started running. _Get out, get out, get out_. There had to be some solution, but she didn’t know what to do, how to stop this. She needed to stop this. Now.

She could feel the heat of her magic within her, fire rising from deep in her chest, swirling through her like something alive, and she let herself slip into it. There was something calming about the heat, about letting go of control for a moment and let the magic do what it wanted to. Flickering lights around her, a fire out of control, and as she ran she couldn’t have stopped it if she’d wanted to. The magic did what she didn’t dare to, and took care of the evidence, a fireball that consumed everything until the world was nothing but flame and fire.

***

Who was he? _What_ was he? The building was falling apart, but he’d walked out of the rubble, one eye blazing red. Sharp fangs glinting when he coughed. A vampire, but not. She’d worked on enough of them to know he was different.

***

Hidden, she had to keep hidden, he couldn’t know she was following her. The answer to everything. The way to keep Rin’s family safe. If she did what the lab had been trying to, then Mizu had to call the debt paid. A soldier, the link between vampires and humans. The answer to everything. She had to be sure, had to find out. Before Mizu could harm her family. She had to find out what he was and when she knew she could talk to Mizu, and her debt would be paid off. He would be the answer to everything. She had to follow him, keep hidden in the shadows. 

***

Mizu hadn’t been angry when Rin first met her after the disaster at the lab. She’d been sympathetic. Told her she was glad Rin had been able to get out, that a lab could be rebuilt. 

Rin didn’t trust her. There was no warmth in Mizu, no truth behind that smile. Rin couldn’t rest, knew she had to prove herself or Mizu would discard her, and then Rin’s family wasn’t safe. 

She almost told Mizu about the man that had walked out of the burning building, but she decided to wait. She wanted to be sure, couldn’t afford any more mistakes. Had to make sure she knew exactly what he was.

***

The bar was filling up, and Rin felt uncomfortable around so many people, but she kept to her small corner table, watching the man she’d been following for a while now.

Kakashi Hatake. He worked for the DPA. Spent his days at the office or with the long-haired man currently sitting next to him. One eye always hidden, the same she had seen blaze red. A mask over his face. To hide the fangs. Hide what he was. 

She’d watched from the shadows, trying to figure out more, but she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. She had to be more proactive, knew she was running out of time before Mizu did something. 

She didn’t know who most of the other people around the table were. The long-haired man sitting next to Kakashi she kept seeing him with, probably a boyfriend. Or maybe not, considering the way a man with grey shoulder-length hair was looking at the long-haired one. He looked jealous. Maybe he was the long-haired one’s boyfriend and the DPA agent was encroaching on their relationship. Couldn’t trust a relationship. You thought you were happy and in love and suddenly the other sold you out as if you didn’t matter at all.

Rin shook her head. She wouldn’t allow herself to think about _him_ , the one who had betrayed her and gotten her into this trouble.

Her hands were in her pocket, twirling the small vial there. A strong potion, something to incapacitate Kakashi. She just needed him alone and unaware for long enough to get a blood sample, something to test. 

It was easy enough to get close to the long-haired man while Kakashi was outside for a moment. A small bump to distract him, and then an empty vial. She’d had to divide the potion into both glasses, having no idea which would be given to Kakashi. She just hoped it didn’t dilute it too much. 

***

Failure. It had been a failure.

“I don’t know what to do with you, Rin. You can’t work in the laboratory any more, and you refuse to do as I tell you. I just want you to tap into your potential, but you are holding back.”

Rin was back at the Mist coven, standing under the waning moon, trying to do as Mizu wanted her to. She knew the spell Mizu wanted her to do in theory, and her magic was swirling, ready to fulfil it, but her mind was rebelling. She could taste the darkness tainting it, and it was holding her back, and it was infuriating Mizu. 

The bar had turned out to be a complete failure. The boyfriend had drunk before Kakashi had and the agent hadn’t even touched his glass, so Rin had to escape without the blood sample she’d wanted.

“You are no use to us like this, a witch who can only do minor spells.” The threat was clear on Mizu’s voice, and Rin knew she was running out of time. She had wanted to find out just what the DPA agent was, but she didn’t think she had time. She had to please Mizu enough to pay off the debt.

***

It was clear that the way to get to Kakashi was the long-haired man. Rin soon found out who he was. Iruka Umino, teacher and about as normal as they got. That could be useful. 

She should have spent longer on the plan, perhaps, but she was feeling the overhanging threat and knew time was a commodity she didn’t have, so she would just have to make the most of it. 

The city was full of abandoned houses, so that was easy to acquire. Then a few days making her golem army with the singly purpose of catching Kakashi Hatake. It had taken a toll on her magic, spells she had never done before, but she was getting desperate, so it was worth the exhaustion. Then she would just have to get Kakashi to come to her. She knew Iruka was home alone, she could just walk in there and kidnap him, it wouldn’t be too hard. But then she’d have to get him downstairs and to the house without being seen, and she wasn’t sure how easy that would be, not when she was running out of time. No, she should lure him there. But how? 

“I need your help. You want Iruka Umino to yourself, don’t you? I can help you with that.”

It had been easy to get the other teacher to help her. A quick message dictated by her, directing Iruka to where he needed to be. The promise was that after tonight Kakashi would be gone from the picture and Mizuki was free to pursue Iruka. Mizuki hadn’t even hesitated as he agreed, just grinned widely and sent the message. It felt wrong, but Rin couldn’t afford her conscience throwing a wrench in the plan, so she just left to make sure the rest of the plan went as it was supposed to.

***

The forcefield was like a shimmering heatwave around the house, but she knew the neighbours wouldn’t be able to see it in the darkness. 

She had her hood up as she crept up on one of the windows, peering inside. She could see one of her golems walk into the room with sluggish steps. A towering monstrosity of clay made alive by her magic and an offering of her blood. Strong. Relentless. They’d catch Kakashi, and then she could bring him to Mizu and negotiate her debt. 

She realised her mistake when the golem consumed Kakashi whole. A clay coffin with no escape. Suffocating. 

_Catch him_ , was the order she had given. Not detailed enough for a mindless drone. Kakashi was caught alright, but he wouldn’t survive long without air, no matter what he was. Vampires turned to dust when they died, would Kakashi do the same? That would mean no body to examine afterwards, and all her work would mean nothing. Her family was doomed because she kept failing. 

She wasn’t good enough. 

Thinking she needed to do something she made a move to break the forcefield, but the next moment Iruka burst into action, and soon enough the golem was vanquished and Kakashi was still alive. Her plan had failed, but at least she had been given another chance. She needed a better plan, fast. 

Rin retreated into the shadows, resolve settling over her. She had to finish what she had started, she just had no idea how.

***

The next time she saw Kakashi was a complete shock. Her new plans were unformed and lacking, and she did whatever Mizu wanted to buy herself time. Tonight she was at the hospital, working in the phlebotomy lab when she was called over by her boss to escort someone. The shock when she saw who it was had her completely forget herself, and it took her a moment to get control over herself again. The very man she had been trying to catch was here, right in front of her. It didn’t seem like he had any idea who she was, which was good.

It was hard to keep calm as she led him through the hospital. Her mind was spinning with possibilities. Could she find a way to sneak a blood sample, or find a way to incapacitate him? Maybe if..? Or..?

In the end, she had to see him walk away, and it was as if she was watching the one thing that could save her family wander off. She had to talk to Mizu, this had gone on for too long. 

***

The otherwise so stoic woman was excited when Rin found her and told her of the man she had seen. A vampire but not, working in the DPA. No way they would have let a full vampire work for them, it would have ended in a blood bath. He’d walked out of a burning building, so he was strong, stronger than any human, and exactly what the Mist coven was looking for. 

Lips painted a deep red peeled back in a grin, and Mizu’s eyes glinted with terrifying glee. 

“You’ve done well, Rin. I’m proud of you. We must be careful if he’s associated with the DPA, we’ll have to get him here without them knowing, and then we’ll have everything we need, the key we’ve been searching for.”

“The debt?” Rin started, voice wavering. 

Mizu looked at her with calculating eyes. “If you bring him back here, then the debt will be called off and you can go back to your little family and do you little worthless spells forever if that is what you want.” 

“I don’t know how to get him here, I’ve tried,” Rin started.

Mizu turned around, looking up at the sky as she contemplated. “It’s because you are weak, because you are holding back. You have so much potential, if you tapped into it you could bring him in easy.”

“I… don’t know how,” Rin admitted. Her mind resisted, scared of what would happen if she let her magic reign. Fire was a volatile element, it was easy to let it consume you. 

“There’s a spell we could use, something that should work to help you bring him in. It will take a few days to brew. Come back when the moon is new and I’ll have it ready. Soon you will be free of the debt completely.”

Rin nodded, willing to do anything. She’d talked to her mother earlier, before coming to the coven’s house, and she’d told Rin that they were having the hardest time in the garden this year. Plants kept dying no matter what they were doing, and somehow Rin just knew. Knew that it was a threat from Mizu. It was all a way to keep her on her toes.

“I’ll bring him here.”

***

The night was dark under the new moon when Rin stepped into the garden of the coven’s home. Mizu was already there, standing in the middle of the stone circle wearing a silky dress that looked like water as it flowed down her legs. She greeted Rin with outstretched arms, and Rin walked closer, hesitant but determined. She had a bad feeling about everything, but she had to do this for her family. It was her only chance. If there was one thing she had learned through the weeks of working with the Mist coven it was that they had power and wasn’t afraid to use it. Destroying Rin and her family wouldn’t faze them in the slightest. Mizu would probably do it herself without even getting her dress dirty. 

Rin took the spot in the middle of the circle, head tilting up to the sky, arms outstretched. Her eyes were closed as Mizu painted a line down her face with a liquid Rin preferred not to know what was. She could feel her magic respond, growing hotter, drawn to the surface. 

“Drink this,” Mizu said, placing a small vial against Rin’s lips. Rin hesitated before she drank. The liquid burned down her throat, tasting like ash and sulphur, and Rin knew something was wrong. 

She could feel the darkness of the magic swirling inside her. Black magic, evil magic. She tried to open her eyes as she felt it spread in her, but it was too late, the darkness filling her inside, swirling through her like thick sludge, consuming her. Oil in her veins.

Cloying. 

Burning. 

Consuming. 

***

The air was alive with crackling fire, licking up around the little witch’s body. The spell had worked to perfection. Mizu laughed as she danced in the firelight, watching as the magic overpowered Rin. 

Finally!

It had taken weeks to get to this point. The witch refused to listen during their lessons, always keeping her powers back, never letting them go, and it was infuriating. Magic should be embraced, should be free. And Rin had so much of it. It was a shame, she could be such an asset, but she kept refusing. 

Which was why Mizu knew she had to force it. The ritual had been planned for a good while already, waiting for Rin to be ready, desperate enough to agree. She had to go through it willingly, or else it would fail.

Mizu had no idea if this apparent half-vampire was something Rin had just dreamt up or if it was true, but it didn’t matter. If Rin came back with him that was good, something for the new lab they were building to work on, but if she didn’t? Well, Mizu had something better, she had Rin’s magic. 

Right now she was a hurricane, wild and unrestrained. Primal in her rage, but it would temper, and then she would be theirs to unleash whenever they needed. 

Let the girl rage and do this little mission she had given herself, and when she came back they could do what Mizu had been planning all along. 

Rin vanished in a flash of fire and Mizu giggled as she danced across the lawn on bare feet, feeling light as air as she made her way inside the mansion. She needed to report on their success. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thusly everything is revealed, and the ending is drawing nearer!


	13. Chapter 13

Kakashi spun his office chair around in soft circles, head tilted back to look up at the ceiling. He was supposed to be working, but he kept thinking about Iruka where he was at work, unprotected. Well, apart from the two agents Kakashi had posted outside the school that was. Kakashi wished he was the one to be there for Iruka, hated leaving him, but Iruka was stubborn as few. When he woke up that morning it was to Iruka in his arms, and for a while he had just stayed like that, breathing in his soft scent and feeling Iruka’s chest rise underneath his palm. Alive. Safe. A way to destroy Kakashi. For a moment he had completely forgotten about the witch who was after them. 

A sour taste rose in the back of his throat and he planted a booted foot on the ground, stopping the spinning. Here Kakashi was, leader of a unit that specialised in hunting down and exterminating vampires, a part of a prestigious government department. The best of the best. Decorated agent. Half-vampire. And still, he had been unable to eliminate the threat to Iruka’s life. Iruka was targeted because of him, and Kakashi was proving useless in keeping him safe. 

Sure, he’d saved Iruka’s life back under the golem attack as well as gotten him out of the bar when he was roofied, but he was always behind, dealing with the situations as they arose rather than being in control, and he didn’t like it one bit. 

Iruka was more important to him than anything and it was time Kakashi got proactive. He had to find the witch and stop them before it was too late. He might not have much experience with witches, but he knew how to hunt down bad guys. 

Booting up the computer from the sleep it had fallen into Kakashi started going through the files and reports from the cases he knew were likely to be connected to the witch, starting with the explosion in the lab. There was his report of course, which he knew well because he’d been the one to rush through it afterwards, not knowing how important it would turn out later. The witch had been there, had been the person he had run after, the one who set off a magical firebomb and took down the entire thing. To get away or to destroy evidence or both. They’d certainly managed both. When the DPA had gone through the ruins later there hadn’t been much to find at all, the fire so potent that it had eaten through most of everything, and the partial collapse of the building had taken care of more. They’d found one half-way intact steel cell, but if there had been a vampire or something else inside they’d been reduced to ashes in the fire. Which made sense, vampires were particularly flammable. 

None of the other paperwork told Kakashi anything he didn’t already know. All they knew was that it was a witch and that she or he was potentially powerful, and that they were a fire elemental. Which was no help at all, because it wasn’t like they had a directory over witches. Unlike vampires most witches were mostly good, dabbling in white magic, sometimes bordering into the more grey. They weren’t inherently evil unless tempted by the dark side of magic, and only then did the DPA get involved. So if she’d never done anything bad before, or been caught doing anything, there was no way the DPA would know who she was. Kurenai’s unit was working on tracing the magic, but it was a slow process. The DPA was sort of bound by the law and thusly limited in what they had to work with, which Kakashi usually didn’t have a problem with, but Iruka was more important to him than rules, and if there was a way to keep him safe Kakashi would do it. 

Frustrated that he was no closer he shut all the files and pushed away from the desk. He might as well look through everything they had, so he could feel more useful and less like he was sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen. Because he was sure something was going to happen, no way would they back away now. The witch had something against Kakashi, they wouldn’t stop until they did what they’d set off to do. 

He looked at the time on the computer screen. His unit wasn’t due in for a few more hours, but Kakashi still sent off the most prudent of the leads they’d be working tonight before leaving his office. He headed towards the elevator and pushed the button for the basement, arms crossing and foot tapping as he watched the floors tick by. He should probably make a note to stop by Unit Eight and ask for some supplies as well. If he was going to stop the witch he needed something to suppress her magic. His unit didn’t need anything to slow down or stop anyone, they just needed weapons, the deadlier the better. A dead vampire was a good vampire after all. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone threatening to harm Iruka, but he’d rather have non-lethal possibilities. 

It felt good to be doing something, even if he had no idea if it would be any help, but at least that meant he would have gone through any legal possibility he had.

He walked past the doors to the morgue, glancing in the glass doors just long enough to see Dr Yakushi drop a dead rat into a cage. He shuddered and walked on, preferring not to know what the coroner was up to. He was glad he didn’t have much to do with him. Unit Seven didn’t leave corpses behind when they were done with their job, just piles of ashes. 

The door at the far end of the hall was marked with a small sign that read _Evidence_. He pushed it open, coming into a small front room.

“Kotetsu,” he said with a nod to the man behind the desk. “Izumo,” he added to the man sitting on top of the desk, in the middle of making out with the former when Kakashi interrupted.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just here to check out some evidence,” Kakashi said. Kotetsu leered and scratched at a band-aid over his nose. 

“No problem, agent Hatake. Just sign in, yeah? Do you have the case number?”

Kakashi did as asked. He kept the tone light, was used to the facade he put up to protect himself. Keep it friendly, don’t get too close. He had a lot of practice. “Yes, I do, it’s one of Kurenai’s cases.”

Kotetsu nodded. “The one with the golems? I heard about it, you were locked in there weren’t you?” News travelled fast in their department. Agents loved to gossip. 

“Sure was.”

Kotetsu shook his head as he grabbed the sign-in sheet and checked it. “Crazy stuff man, these witches, never know what they’ll do next.”

Kakashi merely shrugged, and as soon as Kotetsu waved him off he stuffed both hands in his pockets as shouldered open the door to the room with its rows of shelves, containing all the evidence the DPA had gathered up through the years. Boxes upon boxes, some vibrating from the magic inside, some looking worse for wear. He headed down a row until he came to the first box he needed. An entire lab was condensed into a small cardboard box. There were a few samples, probably the ones sent off to the lab to test for magic. A metal plaque with some unreadable letters. Some various odd bits that didn’t help Kakashi one bit. 

The next box was from the bar, and it contained even less, just the samples from the drinks. A public place like that, what samples could they have? Hundreds of people in and out every day leaving DNA behind. Not even surveillance video, because the bar owner was cheap and hadn’t wanted to splurge on them. 

The next box was the one from the golem attack. A cell phone that was no doubt Mizuki’s. He’d never end up getting that one back, and that didn’t bother Kakashi one bit. There were some DNA samples, hair and a few fingerprints, but so far nothing had come from that judging by the reports Kakashi had read through. Then, something that caught Kakashi’s attention. A small clay pot, stoppered. Symbols carved into the sides in a language Kakashi couldn’t identify. 

Kakashi thought he’d smashed all the clay pots that animated the golems when he took them down. There was only one way to animate something like golems, strong magic bound by blood, and the way to take down the golem was to destroy that. But somehow one of them had survived, and the stopper was still there which meant they had a sample of the witch’s blood. No doubt Kurenai had run it through their systems, so this just meant that the witch hadn’t been in trouble with the law before. If they’d gotten the results back from the lab a blood sample should tell them more stuff about the witch too, DNA could show all sorts of things, couldn’t it? Kakashi couldn’t remember reading any results in the reports, so maybe they weren’t back yet. The labs were usually backlogged, so it made sense. Which meant Kakashi would just have to wait until the report came in, and Kakashi didn’t have time to wait. It was as if he could feel the witch getting closer. Like the air growing heavier before a storm approaching.

He turned the small pot over in his hand and discreetly looked over his shoulder, noting the position of the cameras. Behind him, so his back blocked the view of the box. It would be so easy to pocket the pot, bring it to someone who could help. Blood is magic, the essence of a person. And maybe the best way to stop a witch was magic. 

Kakashi didn’t have a lick of magic in him, so he’d need help. He could always talk to Kurenai, make her focus solely on this case, but Kurenai would have to report to Tsunade, and Tsunade would not be particularly happy that Kakashi wanted to deal with this himself, so he couldn’t risk telling the other unit leader. He was not going to step back from keeping Iruka safe. Besides, Kurenai’s team were already on the case. However, they were limited by the very law they were working to uphold so he wasn’t sure talking would do any good. Blood magic was inherently not white magic, so it wasn’t like anyone on her unit would deal with it, which was why the clay pot was stuck down in evidence.

Kakashi had worked in the DPA for a long time, and even if he’d focused on vampires that didn’t mean he hadn’t met all kinds of people. He knew the city and its people, from the good to the bad to those lingering somewhere right in the middle. Kakashi needed a way to track down a witch and stop them, and this small clay pot with its content might be the way to do it. He didn’t have time for red tape, he needed to act. 

The pot slid into his pocket and then he packed the boxes up nicely and left the evidence room. 

“Find what you needed?” Kotetsu asked, pulling away from Izumo with a smack of lips. Kakashi just shrugged.

“Not really. Just wanted to see for myself, you know?”

Kotetsu nodded as Kakashi signed out and headed back towards the elevator.

“Remember protection,” Kakashi singsonged with a little wave as the elevator doors closed and he just had time to hear an embarrassed outcry from Izumo. 

  
***

It had taken Kakashi a short while to find the right address, the one he was searching wasn’t exactly listed in the yellow pages, but he had found what he hoped was the right place. The GPS in his car was leading him towards the place. Hopefully, this was the beginning of the end, a way to track down the witch and stop them once and for all. 

His thoughts flashed to Iruka, hoping he was well, hating that he couldn’t be there to keep him safe, while also knowing what he was doing was to ensure his continued safety. Kakashi had shuffled their schedule around so Naruto and Sasuke were free tonight, and Iruka was spending the evening at their place. He’d promised Kakashi that he’d stay there until Kakashi could pick him up, staying over if he had to. Iruka had agreed, probably more to keep Kakashi calm and happy than out of fear of his own life. Kakashi knew Naruto would do anything to keep his father safe, so it made Kakashi at ease. Kakashi had seen Naruto’s powers, any witch would have problems getting through him. 

Currently, Kakashi was driving through an area of townhouses, once a nice neighbourhood, but times had changed, and the dark had settled around it. There were gang tags on the walls and in one alley he could see what he was fairly certain was a drug deal going on. Homeless people were dotted through the streets, huddled in patchy coats, trying to fend off the autumn chill. 

In the end, his GPS led him to one of the townhouses, dark brick and grimy windows. It looked deserted, but he got out of his car, a small part of him glad he hadn’t washed it in ages, maybe it’d look less tempting to steal that way. Stepping past the gates of the front garden had Kakashi shudder. It was like the air was thicker, and he knew it had to be magic. Some sort of barrier to keep people away. In this neighbourhood Kakashi didn’t blame them. 

He walked up the stairs to the front door and grabbed the knocker hanging in the middle of weathered green. The sound was dull against the wood, but only a few moments later the door swung open. A man was standing just inside the entrance hall, tall and broad-shouldered, white bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face. He didn’t say a word, just stared at Kakashi with dark eyes, arms crossed over his chest. He wore a simple black sleeveless top, and down one arm sharp lines were tattooed into flesh, the outline of what looked like a stylised sword. 

“I am Kakashi, I seek help,” Kakashi said.

The man grunted and motioned with his head deeper into the house before turning and walking, clearly wanting Kakashi to follow. 

He didn’t have much of a choice, so he did just that, walking into the hallway, looking around as they went. The hallway was long and all the walls were hung with mirrors. Some plain and small, some large in gilded frames. Only fractions of the wall behind were visible between them. It was eerie, seeing his reflection wherever he looked, over and over again, sometimes a little distorted, as if it wasn’t him at all. Something told Kakashi that they were not merely there for decoration, but he didn’t ask. He didn’t think he would have been awarded an answer. 

His thoughts went to lore about how souls could get trapped in mirrors and he shuddered, locking his eyes on the back of the other man’s head and walking down the hallway, trying to ignore the reflections peering out at him out of the corner of his eyes, flashes of movement as he went. 

At the end of the hallway the man pushed open a pair of double doors and headed into a parlour. The walls were dark and there was a fireplace, logs burning, filling the room with warmth. There were no mirrors to be seen, and Kakashi let out a soft breath of relief. 

In from of the fireplace someone was standing, back towards them. Short and slender with long hair gathered in a bun they slowly turned, looking at Kakashi with big eyes and a soft smile. Kakashi instantly had the sense that this was the one he had been seeking, so he inclined his head in a greeting. 

“My name is Kakashi, I come seeking help.” 

The one by the fireplace addressed the other man with a, “Thank you, Zabuza,” before looking back at Kakashi. “I know who you are. I have seen your arrival. My name is Haku.”

“If you’ve seen me, does that mean you know what I’m here for?”

“I do not. Will you tell me?” Haku walked towards a pair of dainty armchairs near the fire, and Kakashi joined him, gently lowering himself onto the seat. 

“I seek a witch,” Kakashi said. 

“Any witch, or one in particular?”

“One in particular. One that I must stop before they take away that which is most precious to me in their attempt to get to me.”

Haku nodded and his slim fingers danced in the air above the small side table between the two armchairs. Frost smoke rose, twirling into the sharp of two small cups and solidifying into ice, crystal clear. 

“Tea?” Haku asked, leaning over and grabbing a metal kettle that had been resting in the fire, holding it with his bare hands as if it wasn't even warm. Kakashi just nodded and watched in astonishment as Haku poured tea into the cups, hot enough that steam rose. The ice didn’t seem to melt from the heat, and when Kakashi curiously lifted one he found it cool against his fingers, but not unpleasantly so. 

“Tell me, why does the witch target you?”

So Kakashi told the witch the abridged story of what had transpired, Haku listening carefully, occasionally drinking his tea. 

“So the witch is after you, and the one you love is being put in danger because of it. You think they’re targeting you because of this illicit laboratory?”

“I can’t know for certain, but that’s when it all started. I figured they’re looking for revenge for destroying it.”

“You say they were experimenting on vampires. Have you considered that they don’t want to kill you, but rather capture you? Test you? You might be strong, _half-breed_ , but you are not unkillable. If she was truly motivated to kill you I don’t think we would be having a conversation right now.”

Kakashi startled, that sounded eerily like Haku knew more about him than most people ever learned. He hadn’t mentioned being anything other than human, and he was wearing his mask and eye patch, so he shouldn’t be able to tell. But then again, Haku had known he was coming before he was even here, so who knew what Haku knew about him. 

“You are quite unique, the only one of your kind I would think. A soul pulled back from that which it should not be able to come back from. I could see someone finding it… fascinating.” 

“How did you know about what I am?” Kakashi asked. 

“You bear a mask, hiding your past and your true self, but a mask can only hide so much. We all wear masks in some way, do we not? If you know how to look then finding the truth behind is not so hard.”

Kakashi felt on edge. There was something about this Haku that told him that a lot of power hid in that small body and behind that gentle face, darkness tinged at the edges. Not a black witch consumed by darkness, but not your usual brand of innocent potion brewer either. 

There was a sudden sound of creaking floors, and Kakashi’s head snapped to the side where he saw Zabuza move towards a bookcase against a wall. He considered the bandages the man wore around his face, and wondered what secret he was hiding behind his mask. 

“Witches are hard to track unless you know whom you seek,” Haku said, and Kakashi looked back towards him. 

“Oh, I have brought something that might aid,” Kakashi said, digging through his pocket and digging out the pot. 

“This came from one of the golems the witch made, the others were smashed, but this survived.” 

Haku held out his hands, gently extracted the pot and held it up to the light from the flames. The fire deepened the shadows of the carved   
. 

“Golems? I haven’t seen one of them in a long time. They are a fire witch then, only they can harden the clay in that way. They’ve grown rarer through the decades. A volatile power, prone to falling to the dark side.”

He lowered the pot, pulling out the stopper and slowly twirling the liquid this side and that. 

“How do you plan to stop them?” Haku asked. “Witches are not like the vampires you usually hunt and execute. Witches are still human, no matter what they have done.”

“Any way I need to protect what I care about,” Kakashi said, voice steady, determined. He would do what needed to be done to keep Iruka safe. “There are shackles that suppress magic, I just need to get them on them.”

Haku tipped the pot until a single drop beaded on the lip and then fell off. It hit the witch’s hand and instantly froze. 

“She’s young,” he said, mostly to himself.

“She?” Kakashi asked, hearing the change of pronouns. He’d somehow pictured a woman but hadn’t been sure. Stereotypes mostly, witches being female, even if he well knew there were just as many male witches around. He’d grown up with one after all. 

“Yes, a young woman. Fire running through her veins.

“She’s clumsy. Inexperienced. The drugs and the failed golem attack. Hesitant perhaps. She won’t have given in to the darkness yet, but if she’s pushed it will come for her. Her magic is tainted,” Haku said as he considered the drop of frozen blood, a ruby in his hand. 

Kakashi’s hands clenched into fists. “I will not let her hurt Iruka, no matter if she’s consumed by darkness or not,” he said. 

Haku watched, head cocked slightly to the side. “You truly love this person you are trying to protect. I am glad.” He smiled softly before pushing a finger against the blood droplet. It shattered into red dust. “We will not stop her for you, but we will help.”

He turned back to where Zabuza was standing, watching over them like some guard dog. “Will you fetch me the box?”

Zabuza nodded, grunting out something that sounded like a yes and walked out the door. 

Haku drank the rest of his tea while waiting. Kakashi’s cup was still mostly full, the ice not even showing any sign of melting, tea still steaming.

A few long moments later the door opened and Zabuza walked over with a wooden box in his hands, handing it to Haku who looked up and smiled at him. 

With quick hands, Haku opened the latch on the side of the box and swung it open. Inside was a mask, pure white, looking like it was made of porcelain. Haku grabbed the clay pot, holding it above the mask and tipping it slowly. A red drop beaded at the lip and hung there for a moment before dropping. Kakashi held his breath as he tried not to disturb, watching with sharp eyes as the drop landed in the middle of the mask. The mask absorbed it, and then frost smoke swirled around, leaving behind a smear of red in a swirl. Haku placed the pot back on the small table and handed the box with the mask to Kakashi. 

“Your shackles won’t be able to hold her. This is stronger, this might, if you can get it on her.”

Kakashi just nodded as he took the box, cradling it gently.

“Tracking her is not so easy. I will make a potion with her blood, but it needs to be brewed under a new or full moon. Give me two days and I can tell you where she is, the new moon is nearly here.” Haku hesitated after his words as if he was considering. “Kakashi, be cautious out there. There is something brewing in the shadows of the city, more witches falling to the dark side than before. It is not the best of times to have a witch after you.”

Kakashi stood up and nodded deeply, grateful for what help he’d been given, only hoping it would be enough. 

Outside he drew a deep breath and clutched the wooden box to his chest as he tipped his head backwards and looked up. The night sky was clear, a few faint stars visible even through the light pollution of the city. The moon the thinnest sliver, almost gone. The new moon so close and with it a way to track the witch down. A few more days and Kakashi would be done with this, would have found her, stopped her and brought her in. Iruka would be safe. 

***

Iruka was sitting cross-legged on his couch, an open book in his lap as he watched Kakashi. Kakashi didn’t appear to have noticed, scrolling on his phone with a look of concentration on his face. Iruka loved that Kakashi had started removing his mask and eye patch whenever he was around Iruka and he always took plenty of time to admire the strong line of his jaw and the softness of his lips. 

He sighed softly in appreciation, and Kakashi finally looked up. Iruka would have looked away, but he wasn’t particularly embarrassed to be caught staring. 

“What are you reading?” he asked. Kakashi had seemed a little off ever since he’d picked Iruka up from Naruto and Sasuke’s place earlier. Tense and distant as if his mind was somewhere else. He’d been on the phone while Iruka showered, and continued reading when Iruka settled next to him. He’d placed a hand on Iruka’s thigh and let his thumb run in small circles over it, so he wasn’t ignoring him. Just, caught up in something.

“Just reading up about witches,” he said. Iruka knew why. Kakashi was trying to prepare for the attack he was afraid was coming. Iruka didn’t know much about witches himself, but he’d done his share of research lately. He didn’t think he had any way to stop a witch that went after him, but it felt good to do something at least. 

“I still think our best bet would be to make a trap. That way we’d be prepared when the witch strikes, we’d have the upper hand.”

Kakashi tensed and put away his phone before turning towards Iruka. “I would never put you in harm’s way like that, you are too important to me. Besides, I’m working on it, I think this will all be over soon.”

“Really?” 

“Yes, I have a way to subdue her when I find her, and I’m having someone help me track her.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“I believe so. I want this over with, I want you safe.”

Iruka closed his book and put it to the side before crawling to Kakashi, slinging a leg over his lap as he sat down, arms around Kakashi’s neck. Kakashi tilted his head back to look at him, and Iruka ran his fingers through unruly grey hair. 

“You know I don’t blame you for any of this, even if it turns out the witch indeed has targeted me because of you?”

Kakashi's gaze flickered away, so Iruka tugged a little on his hair, just enough to get attention back on himself. 

“I mean it. It is not your fault. You’ve been doing this job for years without anything like this happening, so it’s just bad luck that it did. You couldn’t have known.”

Kakashi didn’t look like he agreed but pulled Iruka in for a kiss. “You keep proving how you are too good for me, Iruka.”

Iruka smiled against his lips. “Remember that when I start nagging you to pick up your socks or complain when you work overtime.”

Kakashi wrapped strong arms around Iruka’s waist, holding him close. “If it means you are in my life, I wouldn’t mind one bit. I’ll pick up any sock you point out, happily.”

Iruka laughed, kissing Kakashi. 

Kakashi chose the moment Iruka was distracted with their kisses to flip them over, twisting so Iruka was lying on the couch, Kakashi hovering above him. Iruka hooked his legs around Kakashi’s hips, lifting his ass to press up against him. 

Kakashi ran cheeks a little scratchy with stubble against Iruka’s freshly-shaven ones before claiming his lips again, kissing him deep, tongue licking into Iruka’s mouth, and Iruka could do nothing but cling to Kakashi’s back and reciprocate, biting down on Kakashi’s bottom lip and sucking it into his mouth. 

It didn’t take long before Kakashi was pulling up Iruka’s sweater, bunching it under his armpits. He wiggled down Iruka’s body, making Iruka’s legs fall from around his hips to spread around Kakashi’s torso as Kakashi ran his tongue over collarbones and then sucked a nipple into his mouth. Iruka arched his back at the sensation, a moan falling from his lips as he silently begged for more. 

The other nipple got the same treatment, a tongue flicking over it, making it hard and wet. 

Kakashi grinned up at him and then moved down, licking and sucking down Iruka’s chest and abdomen until he reached the waistband of the soft cotton sweatpants Iruka was wearing. He dragged the waistband down, and then mismatched eyes shot up. 

“Well, well, here I thought you were all prim and proper mister teacher, but what is this?”

Iruka looked away, feeling his cheeks hot with a flush. 

“You had company, and you still didn’t put on underwear after your shower? My my my,” Kakashi teased, his tongue dipping out to drag along the exposed skin above Iruka’s hipbones. 

“Shush you,” Iruka said, “Get back to what you were doing.”

Kakashi chuckled, but obliged, slowly dragging down the sweats, tasting every inch of skin that was exposed down Iruka’s hip and then thigh. When he got to knees he gave up and quickly dragged the sweatpants down, leaving Iruka bare except for the sweater bunched under his arms, which somehow only made him feel more exposed than if he was to take it off.

He was hard before Kakashi could even get a hand on him and when deft fingers finally closed around his length his hips shot up, a soft breath escaping his throat.

With some effort, he pushed up on his elbows, just so he could watch Kakashi. It was heady to have all of Kakashi’s attention focused only on him, fingers slowly moving up his length, testing, teasing, touching. 

He saw Kakashi’s tongue dip out to wet his lips, and the image of that tongue on him flashed through his mind. “Kakashi, please,” he said, voice shaking a little. 

Kakashi looked up at him while his hand kept moving, firm around his length. “Please what?” he asked.

Iruka bit down on his bottom lip, hesitating, so Kakashi twisted his hand a little right under the head of the cock. 

“Hah! Please, Kakashi, your mouth, I want it.”

The sound that came from Kakashi when he heard Iruka’s plea was positively sinful and Iruka was almost a little surprised Kakashi didn’t dive straight into it. Instead, his head tipped forward, forehead resting against Iruka’s hip, soft breath fanning over the sensitive skin there. So close, but not where Iruka longed to feel it. 

“Kakashi?” he asked. “Is… something wrong? You.. don’t have to?”

Kakashi made a pained groan and seemingly reluctantly tilted his head so he could look up at Iruka. “I want to, I want to so much. But, I’m afraid. I’ve never… my fangs, I can’t retract them, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Realisation flooded Iruka, and where Kakashi no doubt expected fear or disgust nothing but surprised excitement flooded him. “I… It’s.. fine? Just be careful, I’m sure it’ll be… just fine. Yeah, just fine,” he said, voice a little breathless. 

Kakashi blinked, staring at Iruka with an incredulous look. “You’re not afraid?”

Iruka didn’t trust his voice, so he just shook his head. 

Kakashi made a desperate sound, fingers tightening deliciously around Iruka’s length. “I’ve been longing to taste you, Iruka, want it so much.” His gaze turned to Iruka’s cock. “Tell me if I hurt you at all, or if you want me to stop?”

Iruka nodded vigorously. 

Kakashi hesitated, then his tongue dragged over the head of Iruka’s cock and it was all Iruka could do not to grab unruly hair and thrust inside. 

He took his time, dragging his tongue over Iruka’s length, eyes carefully watching Iruka’s face, probably searching for any flash of hesitation. He wasn’t going to find it. Iruka had to curl his hands in the fabric of the couch to ground himself as Kakashi worked over him so slow and thorough, painting every inch of his cock in saliva. 

“‘Kashi, more,” he moaned out, his mind spinning a little with excitement.

Kakashi stilled with his tongue flattened against Iruka’s hard length, looking up and searching Iruka’s face before he carefully wrapped his lips around the head of Iruka’s cock and gave a tentative suck. 

Iruka was sure he had died and come to heaven. Kakashi’s mouth was hot and wet, and his tongue pushed against the nerves on the underside of the head, and Iruka never wanted Kakashi to do anything other than what he was doing right at that moment, and then he started moving down his length, and Iruka had to reconsider because Kakashi’s lips were tight around him, and it felt impossibly good. 

One of Iruka’s hands shot out before he even noticed, grabbing Kakashi’s hair, and Kakashi moaned around his length, slowly pulling back until it was resting against his bottom lip. “Is it okay?” he asked.

Iruka glanced down at him, and when Kakashi spoke he saw the sharp tips of fangs framing his cock, and shit, that should not make him shiver in excitement as it had. 

“Iruka, your pulse just kicked, are you sure you are okay? We can stop if you want?”

“Holy fuck, don’t you dare stop now,” Iruka spat out, blushing at how desperate he sounded. 

Kakashi considered him, a knowing look filling his eyes. 

“Iruka? You’re not getting excited because of the fangs, are you?”

Iruka’s silence was answer enough. 

A sly grin spread on Kakashi’s lips. “Well, well, well, you keep surprising me,” he said, voice deep and sultry, tongue dipping out to trace across the head of Iruka’s cock, licking up the precome that had beaded there at his words. 

A moan from Kakashi. “You have no idea how good you feel in my mouth, so hard, so delicious.” 

Iruka’s head tipped back as he moaned, hips thrusting up, trying to get that mouth back on him. 

A deep chuckle from Kakashi, and then lips around him again, taking him deep and swallowing around him. Holy shit, how was Kakashi this good if he hadn’t done this before. Damned him, he had to be good at everything, didn’t he?

Iruka didn’t feel a single nick from Kakashi’s fangs, he was being careful even as he started to slowly bob on his length, but just the knowledge that they were there, that any second they could have bitten down on the sensitive flesh, or maybe move down before sinking deep into the vein on his inner thigh… 

Iruka had no idea why that thought was making him this delirious with want, but it looked like he had a thing for danger that he had never known about, and wasn’t that quite the discovery to make?

Kakashi pulled off his length, tongue tracing around the head once. “I want you to come in my mouth, Iruka. Want to taste you.”

Iruka couldn't even say anything to that, words caught in his throat as Kakashi sucked him into his mouth again. He looked down and watched Kakashi taking him deep. His pupils were blown wide and his hair was even messier than usual. Then Iruka noticed how Kakashi had one hand down the front of his pants, no doubt jerking off, and oh, wasn’t that a turn on. 

The next time he pulled back Iruka could feel something hard, pointed, drag along his cock, and he just knew it was a fang, sharp and deadly, and his orgasm was barrelling towards him, making it hard to focus on anything but that feeling of the fang sliding harmlessly up his length, and then Kakashi’s fingers were tightening around the base of him, and his mouth pushed down, tongue pressing along the underside of his cock, and Iruka barely had time to stutter out a warning, body curling around Kakashi’s head as he came, hard. 

When he was completely spent he all but collapsed back against the couch, mind buzzing with the aftermath of having his mind completely blown, and he barely noticed when Kakashi collapsed on top of him, head pillowed on Iruka’s chest, hair tickling Iruka’s chin. 

“Holy hell,” Iruka said, and Kakashi just chuckled, sounding pleased with himself. 

“When I can move again I’m going to pay you back,” Iruka promised. Right now he didn't think he could even move a finger. 

“Uhm,” Kakashi said, and Iruka mustered up enough energy to gaze down, seeing Kakashi twist his head to look up. “I… kind of came already.”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t even know how sexy you are do you?”

Iruka laughed, giddy with his orgasm, happy to have such an amazing man in his life. “I guess I’m happy to help?”

Kakashi grinned up at him, and at that moment there was not a singly worry on Iruka’s mind. All he could think was _Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi_ , and his chest swelled with warm happiness. 

***

“I just don’t know how someone got their hands on my phone, and now I have a buy a whole new one because the DPA confiscated mine, and like, who has the money to just do that out of nowhere with our salary.” Mizuki was droning on, and Iruka was only half paying attention. He’d had an odd feeling all day, like a storm was brewing. Kakashi hadn’t said much when he spent the night, but Iruka had the feeling that something was about to happen. Kakashi was working on a way to track the witch, so Iruka figured he should relax because it would all be done soon, but his gut feeling kept him on his toes. 

“So, anyway, we’re headed for the bar next Friday, and I know things didn’t go great for you last time, but do you want to come this time? We’ll make sure you are safe, and you can bring… him as well.”

Iruka shook his head. “Huh?” He had completely lost track of what Mizuki was saying.

A look of annoyance flashed over Mizuki’s face before it fell into a soft smile again. “Want to come out to the bar this Friday?”

Iruka hesitated. He didn’t particularly want to go out to begin with, and with a witch on the hunt for Kakashi—clearly willing to go through Iruka to get to him—he was even more sure he did not want to ever set his feet in the bar again. It was the very place the witch had drugged him, and he did not want a repeat. 

“Ah, I’m sorry, I can’t this Friday, maybe another time,” he hedged, knowing he would have to keep dodging the question, but not wanting to outright turn Mizuki’s outstretched arm of friendship away either. He’d have to work with him for however long they both worked at the school after all. Kakashi hated his guts and was sure he wasn’t nearly as innocent as he tried to come off, but Iruka still had hope Mizuki hadn’t actively helped with luring him into a trap. 

“Ah, cool, sure,” Mizuki said, turning back to the homework he was looking through. “We can do another Friday.” 

Iruka took a deep breath and turned towards the handouts he was in the middle of compiling. The school couldn’t afford new books, and some of the old ones were starting to feel outdated, so he was supplementing with handouts he made himself. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to see the kids work hard, learning their numbers and letters, writing small words and figuring out the intricacies of addition. 

He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, the collar feeling tight around his neck, and he swore he could feel Mizuki’s eyes on him, which made him want to button it right up again. 

He was glad for the distraction when his phone started buzzing on the desk next to him moments later. He flipped it over and saw Kakashi’s name, and quickly accepted the call. 

“Iruka,” he heard Kakashi say on the other end, “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” he said, hesitating a little, wondering if he should tell Kakashi about the bad feeling he’d been having, but knowing it was probably nerves now that they were getting closer to the end.

“I’m glad. I just wanted to tell you that I won’t be able to pick you up at work today, I’m stuck in a meeting, so I’ve arranged for Naruto to come. He’s off rotation tonight, so he said it wasn’t a problem, as long as you feed him.”

Iruka chuckled. “That sounds like Naruto alright. Do you know when he’ll—”

“IRUKAAAH!”

“‘—never mind, he’s here.” 

“Be careful, okay, Iruka. Call me if anything happens?”

Iruka smiled at the soft worry. It was a strange feeling to have someone worry and fuss over him, it had always been his job.

“I will. You take care, too.”

By the time they hung up Naruto had finally made his way through the hallway, probably disturbing every single teacher as he went, and bounced into Iruka’s office, wearing a neon orange hoodie and jeans with more holes than denim. 

“Do I need to take you shopping?” Iruka asked as Naruto skidded to a halt in front of his desk, beaming. 

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked with a frown. “My clothes are fine?”

“I can see your underwear, Naruto.”

Naruto peered down, poking a finger through a hole high on his thigh where the bottom of his boxers was just visible. “Huh, good thing I picked the orange ones, so it matches.”

Iruka wasn’t too surprised, Naruto had never been one to care much about clothes, and being an agent hadn’t changed that one bit. 

“Anyways! I am here to follow you home! I borrowed Sasuke’s car!” Naruto spun a key fob around a finger, accidentally sending it spinning through the air. It hit Aoba in the back of the head, and Naruto rushed over, babbling apologies as he fetched the key, shoving it back in his pocket where it couldn’t do any damage. 

“Let’s go home, Naruto, I’ll make you ramen.” 

***

Kakashi tried to look interested, but he was pretty sure he was failing. Tsunade had called in a meeting to follow up the meeting from earlier in the day, something about a restructuring of some of the units, but Kakashi’s unit would be left alone, so he had zoned out to let the others argue it out. He was looking out the window with his chin resting on a hand, his arm propped up on the table. It was dark out, even more so with the moon hidden. 

It was the night of the new moon, which meant Haku was probably preparing the tracking spell right now. It would need the night to brew, so Kakashi was going to be there tomorrow morning to pick it up. Then it was only a matter of gearing up and finding the witch so he could put a stopper to her whole vengeance spiel. He might call on Kurenai to send a few agents to come along, but he’d figured it was better to ask right as he was leaving so she couldn’t argue too much. 

He looked forward to everything being over, to be able to know that Iruka was safe, that no one was targeting them. He’d incapacitate the witch and then she’d be shipped off for a trial. Either she’d be locked up for a while or her powers would be taken from her, depending on the outcome of the trial. Kakashi didn’t have much experience with them, the vampires he hunted never saw any trials. 

As soon as the meeting was over he left the meeting room, too tense to talk to anyone. He figured he should contact Haku to see how the spell was going along, so he headed for the elevator to make his way to his office where he could call in peace. He could hear Gai behind him so he quickly pressed the button to close the doors, pretending he couldn’t hear the quick footsteps behind. The doors slid shut and he’d feel a little bad but he knew Gai preferred the stairs anyway, more exercise that way. 

With his back to the door he was facing the mirrored back of the elevator, seeing himself, shirt wrinkled and hair a mess. Just as usual then. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rolled on his feet when he saw the first frost crystal. At first he couldn’t tell what it was, something white in the middle of the mirror, but it spread fast, like ice on a winter night, and in a second the entire mirror was frosted over, and in the frost Kakashi could see the outline of a face. He knew instantly that it was Haku. He stepped closer, worry surging through him. What was happening, how was Haku even doing this?

“Something is happening, a great disturbance in the magic that sent ripples through the ley lines. Fire and heat and darkness. So much darkness. It’s her, something happened to her magic and now she’s coming for you, I’m certain of it.” Haku sounded calm, but there was a tone of urgency in the voice that came out of nowhere. 

“I’ll stop her,” Kakashi said, his body tensing as he went through what options he had. No need for a tracking spell, everything was going down now. The witch was coming, and he had no idea what had happened to have Haku notice, what fire and heat and darkness even meant, had she gone full-on black witch? 

The frost melted away, leaving Kakashi alone in the elevator just as the door pinged for the floor of his office. He rushed out. He had to find the mask Haku had given him as well as weapons and then he had to be ready. If the witch was coming now there were only a few places she’d go, only a few places it would make sense to look for Kakashi. The DPA headquarters was the least likely, too heavily protected, and if she did Kakashi had faith there were plenty of agents capable enough to stop her. Then there was Kakashi’s apartment. She might go there, but she could trash that for all Kakashi cared about, there was only one worry on his mind, one place he spent more time than any these days: Iruka’s home. If Kakashi were to hunt for himself that was where he would go, so he didn’t hesitate as he threw himself in the car and started driving. He had to find Iruka and keep him safe, no matter what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are well! We’re so close to the end, I can’t believe it’s almost over


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto doubled over in laughter, clutching at his stomach, nearly choking on a piece of pork. “And then… then he came back and, oh my god, you should have seen him, absolutely drenched in the stuff!”

Iruka grinned, mostly because it was great seeing Naruto so happy while talking about his friends as if there was never any moment in his life when he was friendless and alone. He only caught half the story and wasn’t sure what was so funny about it, but at least Naruto had been amused by whatever had happened to Kiba. 

“Oh man, I thought I was gonna piss my pants I was laughing so hard,” Naruto finally chuckled, wiping away tears and immediately diving back into his bowl of ramen, slurping up more noodles. 

It had been a while since just the two of them hung out together and Iruka found that he had missed it. Getting to talk to Naruto, listen to his joy, seeing him smile widely. Naruto had always had a unique view of the world, a faith in the good in people that was unwavering. Finding a path in life that seemed right for him, making friends and finding Sasuke had enhanced the good in him to new levels. 

“What is Sasuke up to tonight?” Iruka asked, pushing the last of his ramen across the table so Naruto could finish it off. It wasn’t often he saw Naruto without Sasuke trailing behind these days. The two seemed inseparable. 

“He’s in therapy with Shizune,” Naruto said around a mouthful of food, dribbling broth down his chin. Iruka just reached out and dabbed at it with a napkin. Naruto smiled appreciatively and ate more. 

“That’s good.” Iruka knew some of what Sasuke had gone through in his life, although he was sure it wasn’t the full extent of things, so going to a professional to talk about it was probably the best thing for his mental health. Sasuke appeared strong, but there was a limit to what anyone could go through and come out alright on the other side. Iruka hoped he’d never have to test how he could handle anything even near that, he’d had his fill being drugged and attacked by golems. He hoped Kakashi would find a way to track down the witch so he didn’t have to live in fear anymore. He just wanted to relax and spend time with Kakashi without this hanging over them. 

“Yeah, he was sceptical, but I think he realised it was good for him. I’m just real proud of him, you know?” Naruto said, leaning back in his chair, patting his belly, both bowls empty. 

“I’m glad you two met,” Iruka said, “I think you’ve both been good for each other.”

Naruto grinned. “I can’t believe that I used to hate his guts? He was insufferable in the beginning, so full of himself and all ‘I only work alone, you are just a liability’.” Naruto pitched his voice to a gruff growl that was probably supposed to sound like Sasuke.

“But you won him over, didn’t you?” 

“Well, I’m stubborn.”

Iruka laughed. Wasn’t that the truth. 

“Anyways, I’m happy you’ve found Kakashi too. He seems happier than he did in the beginning, and I don’t think I’ve seen you smiling so much, even with a vindictive witch on the hunt for you guys.”

“I’m… glad I met him too. I like him a lot.”

Naruto leaned forward on his chair again, devious look flashing over his face. “Sooo, if you are boning, does that mean you’ve seen what’s behind the mask?”

Iruka sputtered. “Naruto!”

Naruto just laughed, throwing his head back, clearly enjoying himself. 

Iruka was about to admonish Naruto when they heard a loud slam out in the hallway, and both of them grew quiet, gazes flicking towards the front door. It might just be a neighbour slamming their door shut, but they were alert for anything that might happen. Iruka tried to act calm for Kakashi’s sake, but he was always a little on edge these days. 

Then another sound, like crackling, or buzzing? It was hard to pinpoint it exactly, but it was off. Naruto got to his feet, moving in front of Iruka, hunching down a little, hands fisting at his side. When Iruka looked down he saw golden fur flowing down the back of Naruto’s hand, and he knew that if he could see his face he’d likely see red eyes and sharp teeth. 

Hating feeling useless Iruka stepped back enough to grab a kitchen knife from the knife block on the counter, holding it by his side. Probably a feeble weapon against a witch, but better than nothing. 

Even prepared they both startled when the door to the apartment exploded inwards in a shower of splinters, fire licking at the wood. Iruka’s hand tightened around the handle of the knife as he saw the woman standing in the doorway. Slight of build with shoulder-length hair she probably wouldn’t look too intimidating under normal circumstances, but as it was flames were licking at her feet and she looked unaffected by it. Dark eyes, black on black, stared blankly at Iruka. Markings flowed over her cheeks, like living flames on her skin, violet and vibrant. 

“Stay away from him,” Naruto said, his voice a thick growl and the warning in it unmistakable.

The witch—because it had to be her, the one behind everything—didn’t even glance at Naruto. Her black eyes were locked on Iruka. “Where is he?”

There was a raspy quality to the witch’s voice like it was raw from breathing smoke.

Iruka hesitated, hand clutching the handle of the knife. Kakashi was at work, in some meeting still probably. If he told the witch this would she go there to find him? He hated the idea of sending the witch after Kakashi, but if he was at the DPA’s headquarters he wouldn’t be alone, he’d be surrounded by agents, it would be the best place for a showdown. The witch wouldn’t stand a chance against the DPA’s finest, but Iruka wouldn’t be able to do much against her, and he didn’t want to bet on Naruto’s prowess against a magic-user. 

“He’s at work,” he ended up saying. 

The witch sneered. Iruka could see the wallpaper on the wall closest to her start to singe from just being near her. 

“Stay away from my dad,” Naruto said, taking a step closer to the witch. He was taller and broader than usual, fingers curled into claws. 

“I don’t care about him, I need the other one.” She didn’t look worried over Naruto’s warning, ignoring him. “He cares about you, he’ll come to protect you.”

She took a step closer to Iruka, fire dancing around an outstretched hand. 

Naruto growled, taking a menacing step closer to the witch. “You’ll have to go through me.”

The witch cocked her head and looked at Naruto, face still blank of any emotion. “I don’t need to hurt you, but I will if I have to. I need the agent, I need to bring him back. He’ll come for the teacher. Feelings make him weak, he’ll come.”

Iruka took a step backwards. The witch seemed to think that she could use Iruka to get Kakashi to come here. She was right, Iruka knew Kakashi wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest to come running if he knew Iruka was in danger. What could he do? Kakashi would be vulnerable if the witch had Iruka, would sacrifice himself for Iruka in a heartbeat. They needed to get away from this place, get help but on their terms. 

“I won’t let you hurt my dad,” Naruto growled, and Iruka could swear he saw him grow even bigger, back hunching over. 

The flames around the witch’s feet brightened from orange to a sharp blue, the air around her shimmering with heat, and Iruka could see how the flames were catching on the floor. He didn’t think it would take long for the building to go up in flames. Was this her plan, to light the place on fire? The moment Kakashi heard that Iruka’s home was burning he would rush over, and the witch might be counting on it. 

“Don’t do this! Think about all the innocent lives you will take if this building burns.” Iruka sidestepped enough that he could see her from around Naruto’s body.

The witch looked at him with her empty eyes. It didn’t look like she cared at all. The air was filling with smoke and moments later the smoke alarm went off.

“Iruka, hide behind the kitchen counter as soon as I attack, hopefully it will shield you if something happens,” Naruto said, not looking away from the witch. He seemed to have given up on bargaining already. Iruka didn’t blame him. There was something wrong with the witch. She didn’t seem human at all, those black on black eyes showing no humanity.

“No! You can’t know she won’t hurt you, you’ve never fought witches before.” Iruka would not let Naruto get hurt over him. 

“Heh, I guess there’s a first time for anything.”

Iruka was about to protest again, but then the witch took a step towards Iruka, and Naruto attacked. He pushed off the ground, flying through the air like a pouncing lion, claws long and sharp. Iruka watched in shock, thinking Naruto was going to tear the witch’s head off just by his momentum, but he didn’t even land a hit. The witch threw up a hand and the fire rose in an arch, slamming into Naruto’s side and throwing him to the side where he hit a bookcase, splintering the wood. 

Iruka yelled and was about to run to him when Naruto got to his feet, shaking his body and turning his attention on the witch again. His mouth was twisted into a grin, sharp fangs showing. His eyes were shining a fiery red. He attacked again, all fierce power, and Iruka was in awe. He was fast and strong, and Iruka could imagine he was a formidable foe for most, but the witch barely seemed fazed as she let her flames fly through the air again, slamming into Naruto, sending him staggering to the side, but this time Naruto was prepared, hunched down, claws digging into the wooden floors, carving deep marks into them to stop and then push off immediately after. 

He got closer this time, nearly getting the witch as his hand struck out, claws gracing the front of her shirt, tearing a rip over her collarbone. He struck again, but this time she brought the flame up as a shield over her body, making her seem aflame, and Naruto had to pull away, the heat too intense. 

Naruto was not one to quit, however, and the next moment he had grabbed a side table and used it as a projectile. The witch deflected it, but Naruto had used the moment of distraction to push close, arms wrapping around the witch’s torso, sending her toppling to the ground with him on top of her. Iruka could see how strong jaws snapped in the air just above her face before a column of fire rose, forcing him to back away, clothing caught on fire. He slapped at his chest to put out the flames and then snapped back towards her, ready to attack again. 

Iruka felt helpless. He would have called for assistance, but his phone was over near the couch, and when he looked in the direction of it he could see fire travelling over the carpet underneath the couch, slowly devouring it. 

“Naruto, the apartment is catching fire!” he called out. “We have to get out!”

He looked around, but the door to the hallway was consumed with fire already.

Naruto looked over at him and nodded sharply. Then he grabbed the flaming couch and heaved it at the witch as if it was nothing at all. 

The witch managed to dodge it, but Naruto used the opportunity when she was distracted to run straight at Iruka. Iruka’s eyes widened, wondering what the hell Naruto was up to as he grabbed a kitchen chair along the way. Then the chair sailed through the air just next to Iruka’s head and there was a splintering of glass and the next moment Naruto had his arms wrapped around Iruka’s torso. With a strong leap they were sailing through the air. 

Iruka couldn’t tell, but he probably shrieked like a baby on the way down, his teeth knocking together hard as they halted mid-air, Naruto having caught onto the railing of a balcony on the apartment building opposite Iruka’s home. Iruka didn’t have time to be amazed before Naruto dropped them, and they hit the ground two floors down. 

Iruka got to his feet and looked up, seeing flames shoot out the window that had been his home. Framed against the inferno was the witch. He felt a sting of sadness at the loss, but it was quickly drowned out by fear as the witch took a step into thin air and dropped down, slamming into the street right across from them. She hit hard, asphalt cracking, but didn’t seem hurt as she straightened up. 

She looked inhuman as she stared at them. Was this the same person that had botched the attempt to drug Kakashi and then the whole golem affair? The witch in front of him seemed like she wouldn’t hesitate to kill to get what she wanted, it seemed so at odds with what Iruka had expected. 

Faintly Iruka could hear voices around them, screams and yells, people watching what was happening. He hoped someone had called the DPA and that backup would come before it was too late, but he was afraid people were too busy watching the witch and the shifter face each other across the street, one shrouded in magic and the other bursting with strength. Iruka felt utterly useless, afraid he was going to be forced to watch Naruto sacrifice himself for him. He wished there was something he could do, but he was just a teacher, and he didn’t have anything that even looked like a weapon. He was in such deep water the ocean was black around him. The knife he’d found to have some sort of weapon he’d lost as Naruto threw them both out the window, so now he was defenceless.

Naruto showed no sign of fear as he waited, seeming to assess the situation. Attacking the witch head-on hadn’t worked too well and Naruto was adapting, watching, calculating his next mood. Naruto had matured, no longer the brash teenager that would have jumped in without giving it another thought.

The attack happened fast as flame roared, a serpent of fire curling around the witch and then striking out. Naruto threw himself to the side and immediately barrelled at her, throwing his shoulder into her stomach, but this time instead of pinning her down he curled a strong arm around her and with a twist of his body he sent her flying through the air. She slammed hard into the brick wall of the building that had been Iruka’s home only moments before. 

The bricks cracked underneath the impact and the witch fell to the ground, but before Naruto could attack again she was back on her feet, facing him. A thin stripe of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, but she didn’t even lift a hand to wipe it off, just lifted both hands in front of her, and then flame shot out from her like a wall of fire. 

There was nowhere for Naruto to dodge, and the wall hit him straight on, an unrelenting force that slammed him backwards and knocked him off his feet. Iruka made a stumbling step towards him, but Naruto was back up in an instant, the tips of his hair looking singed and his face patchy red where he was burned, sweater almost incinerated at this point. He shrugged out of the tattered remains and attacked. 

In the distance, Iruka could hear the sound of approaching sirens, someone had called the fire department when flames shot out of the building no doubt. He could see how people had escaped the burning building, fleeing the scene when they saw what waited for them down on the street. The fire was roaring through the entire floor now, windows shattering under the force of the growing inferno. The fire department might be able to put it out, but not until the witch was subdued. Iruka just hoped everyone had gotten out in time. 

Naruto and the witch slammed together again and Iruka begged for someone to come and help them. He had to do something, had to stop her, but what could he do?

***

A plume of black smoke rose in the distance, and Kakashi could feel the dread in his stomach settle like a stone. What if he was too late, what if he had failed? 

When he turned the car down the right street and saw a flaming inferno in the building he had spent hours and hours curled up on Iruka’s couch, his heart thumped hard. That was Iruka’s apartment being devoured by flames.

“No, no, no,” he said, disbelief that he was too late, that he hadn’t been able to stop the witch, that he had failed Iruka. 

Then his gaze fell to the street, and relief coursed through him so quickly it slammed the breath from his chest. 

Standing on the sidewalk, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, was Iruka, whole, unharmed from the sign of it. But then he saw the other two. Naruto had done what he had promised Kakashi, he had kept Iruka safe for him, but it didn’t look like it had been easy. There was a woman on fire opposite him, the flames weaving around her as if they were alive.

_The witch._

He slammed on the brakes and was out of the car the moment it stopped, running towards Iruka. Iruka turned towards him as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and Kakashi could see relief settle over him just as Kakashi swept him up in his arms, holding him close to his chest. 

For a short moment, everything else faded but the two of them, but then Iruka pushed him away. “Naruto, he needs help!”

Kakashi looked to where Naruto was crouched on the ground, looking more beast than man, golden fur spreading down his back, muscles rippling as he leapt straight at the witch. The sheer power in his body was beyond impressive, but the witch just lifted a hand, and flames shot out like a whip, hitting his chest and sending Naruto flying to the side. He rolled across the asphalt, stopping when he slammed into the wall. A bright red wound slashed across his chest, but moments later it started fading, his healing powers kicking in. 

“Naruto!” he called out, and Naruto turned towards them, and with a last glance towards the witch, he ran over, shaking his head, some of the beast retreating from his features.

“Kakashi! I can’t get close to her, the flames are too powerful.”

Kakashi nodded and looked towards the witch. She wasn’t coming closer, just watched them, head cocked to the side, eyes shining with the flames surrounding her. Beyond that though, there was something recognisable, and suddenly he realised that he had seen her before, not long ago in the hospital, wearing scrubs. 

Well, they’d figured she’d have some connection to the hospital. Being a nurse it would’ve been easy to get her hands on the blood and smuggle it out after all. He was still surprised that the nurse he had seen then, short and a little unassuming, was the one who had been attacking them. The witch in front of him now looked nothing like the nurse, this was darkness and magic incarnate. He didn’t see any of the compassion in her that he would’ve expected in someone who worked in healing. 

He thought to Haku’s warning. A disturbance in the magic, darkness. Something had happened to her, something had changed. Her magic was out of control, and when their eyes met he saw nothing but darkness in them. 

He needed to get the mask on her because he didn’t think there was any reasoning with the witch standing in front of him. He needed to neutralise her powers before she hurt someone. Would there be a way for her to be rehabilitated later? She seemed consumed by magic, and he didn’t know if there would be any going back from that. There might be something good in her still, so he would do what he could to stop her without killing her. The supernatural community might sometimes call the DPA for executioners, but as it was they tried to help and rehabilitate in most cases. Vampires and other demons were the exceptions to the rule. 

In the distance, Kakashi heard sirens, and he was certain it meant the fire department was heading their way. If the DPA hadn’t been notified by any of the bystanders the fire department definitely would. Help would arrive, and they’d stop her before any more people were hurt.

The witch seemed to have heard them too because she looked in the direction of arriving trucks, and a sneer flashed over her face. A hand shot out in their direction, palm out, and Kakashi was expecting more fire, but all that came was the soft sound of imploding air. He didn’t have time to wonder what was happening.

Kakashi took a step towards her and he knew her eyes were on him now. He was what she was looking for, what she wanted. Why he was still not certain of, so if she was about to try to kill him or something else he had no idea. Whatever her goal might be he needed her to focus on him, to channel her anger at him, to ensure that Iruka and Naruto were safe. 

“Iruka, go to my car, in the passenger seat there’s a wooden box, bring it back here but keep your distance,” he said. He heard Iruka make a noise as if to complain, but Kakashi didn’t let him. “Please, Iruka, it’s important, we will need it.”

Retreating footsteps and Kakashi relaxed a little. “Naruto, stay back and make sure you and Iruka are safe, no matter what happens. The DPA will have been notified by now by some bystander, so I don’t think they will be too far away, they’ll back me up if I need it.”

Naruto hesitated. “Only to keep dad safe,” making it clear that he didn’t appreciate being told to stay back. Naruto had never been one to shy from a fight, but now Kakashi needed to know Iruka was safe more than anything. 

Kakashi took a deep breath. It was time to stop hiding. 

“I remember you from the hospital,” he said. “But I can’t say I remember your name, I’m sorry. Do you remember? Remember being a nurse? Did you like it, to help people, save their lives, heal them?”

The flames spun around her, then eased back, curling lazily around her legs. “My name is Rin, but it doesn’t matter. There were no helping people. I remember seeing people broken and ruined, humans hurt by other humans, because of greed and hatred and laziness. People driven mad by drugs. Kids ruined by sickness. I remember death and pain, no healing.”

Kakashi lifted a hand and pulled off his eye patch, letting it fall to the ground beside him, blinking, world washed in reds as the eye he usually hid finally could see again. It was sharper than his human one, saw the witch’s chest move with breaths, saw the dead look in her eyes sharpen a little as she noticed his eye. 

He paid it little attention. “Surely there was life as well. Kids healed from cancer, bones set, wounds stitched.” He moved his hand to the mask, hesitating a little before he grabbed the fabric and pulled it off, letting it fall to the ground, leaving him barefaced.

“You were in the lab in the basement, what were you doing down there?”

The witch, Rin, looked at him, assessing him as if she was considering how to kill him. “They were making soldiers,” she said. “Half-vampire, half-human. Strong but controllable.”

“Did you succeed?”

“Not yet.”

“You never would, it’s not possible.”

She sneered. “You forced me to ruin the entire lab, and then I saw you walk out of the rubble, the very thing they’d been trying to make. Not human, but not a vampire either. I need to bring you to them and then my debt will finally be paid off.”

Kakashi sighed, looking away, gathering his thoughts. He had no idea what debt she was talking about, but right now he figured that getting her to talk was good. The longer she talked the closer help would be. Kakashi wasn’t stupid, he knew he wouldn’t get close enough to her to get the mask on, not with the way flames were dancing around her, ready to strike. He might not be fully vampire, but he wasn’t about to test how flammable he was if he could help it. “No, you could not.”

Obito saving him had been an impossibility, and the only way he’d pulled it off was pure luck and too much power. The chance of anyone recreating that was practically zero. “My best friend died making me what I am.”

The flames around her wavered a little. “No, there has to be a way. I need there to be a way.”

“Obito was there when I was attacked by a vampire, and as I died he pulled the power from the earth and channelled through himself to save me. It consumed him. You can’t recreate that in a lab.” 

“I need to pay off the debt, I need them safe.” Rin’s voice was shaky, the flames dying out. Could she be reasoned with, was she not that far gone after all? 

“We’ll help you with any debt you have,” Kakashi said. “There’s no reason to hurt anyone.”

“I… I… need to show them, that it’s possible, that I have the answers. They’ll leave us alone then, they will, I have to,” she was rambling, the flames flickering, and for a moment Kakashi thought he saw the darkness of her eyes retreat, and maybe it would be fine, maybe she could be reasoned with.

A burst of sharp laughter shattered everything. He looked at Rin in surprise as the flames roared to life around her again. Her eyes darkened until they were only two dark holes, no life in them whatsoever. She looked possessed and Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that there was something more going on than a witch gone dark, but he had no time to figure out what as fire lashed out at him and he had to dodge, feeling the heat scorch past him.

Kakashi was good with a gun and with blades, but neither was much help against fire. He wouldn’t get close enough to use the blade, and he wasn’t positive the bullet would ever get to hit its target, not with the way the flame was growing brighter, turning white-hot, melting the asphalt underneath her feet. There was immense power in her. 

He would have to get the mask on her, but he had no idea how he was going to manage that without incinerating it or himself on the way. There was no way he could pull through with this on his own. He would have appreciated some help right now, but when he looked in the direction of the fire trucks he realised that they’d all stopped too far away. Only then did he notice the shimmer in the air. A force field. That had to be what she’d done earlier, the sound of imploding air. 

He looked around with his red eye and saw a dome all around them, encompassing the street and parts of the nearby buildings, but keeping the fire trucks away, as well as any other reinforcements as well. 

No one would be leaving or entering until they either stopped the witch, or she stopped them. No, they were on their own. 

“Naruto!” he called out, dodging another lash of flame, coming close enough that he could speak without the witch hearing. “I need help holding her still. I will distract her and then you get behind her and pin her arms. Then I’ll end this.”

Naruto nodded, knowing this was not the time to ask questions. He looped around, keeping his distance, going to the side where he would be able to get around her. 

“Iruka! Throw me the case and then pull away. I can’t do this properly if I have to worry about you.” 

Iruka did not look happy, but Iruka was also a smart man so with a reluctant nod he threw the wooden case through the air and pulled back to where he could watch but was safe from the flames. Kakashi felt love flare in him, hot and bright.

“I’m the one you want, stop your convoluted plans and just attack me, already. You need soldiers like me, then come at me! You’ve failed so many times, what if I give myself up, will you manage then?”

He didn’t much like the situation they were in, the lack of control he felt. He had no idea how she would react to anything. Something was going on because this was nothing like the quiet nurse he had met a short while ago. He wished he knew what, but his knowledge of the magical world was lacking, so all he could do was hope for the best. 

She’d mentioned having to show someone what Kakashi was, how she would be left alone then. Was someone threatening her? Was she just forced into a corner, trying to claw her way out? He wished he knew what was going on, the whole situation felt wrong to him. Now was not the time to investigate though, because he had a furious witch on fire attacking him. 

The taunt had the desired reaction. She focused all her attention on him, those black eyes boring into him, and then her flames were shooting out like whips, white-hot. Kakashi knew that if she hit him he’d be in trouble, so he leapt backwards, a hand planted on the hood of the car he had backed up against. He vaulted over it and ducked. The car slammed into his back as the flames hit into the side of it and pushed it a few feet across the asphalt. The heat from the flames was all around him, and he could see the glow of it surround him before it died out. 

A scream of frustration sounded, and he didn’t hesitate as he ran around the now wrecked hatch-back. He saw Naruto’s strong arms around the witch’s chest, pinning her arms and lifting her clear off the ground. The shock had her flames go out for a moment, but even as he ran Kakashi could see them flare back to life, could see Naruto’s face twist into pain as his flesh started to burn. Still, he held on, and then Kakashi was there, the mask pulled free of the casing as he extended an arm. 

It was just a mask with no visible fastenings, but the moment it connected with her face he saw frost shoot out, fusing it with her skin, tendrils of ice curling from the mask, viscous as they wrapped around her head. 

The change was instant. The flames around her went out and she dropped as if she was a puppet with its string cut, and only Naruto’s grip on her seemed to keep her on her feet. He eased her down to her knees where she slumped. 

Kakashi sagged a little as there was a pop in the air, and even if he couldn’t see it he was sure it was the force field coming down, which meant Kurenai was going to show up with her agents any moment, and they could take the witch away. They had plenty of evidence of her wrongdoings by now, she’d be given a trial and a sentence, and help to find her light again if at all possible. 

And then Iruka and he could finally be happy together, no worri—

He frowned as he looked at the witch. The white of the mask was cracking, like shattering porcelain, fine lines that spread, and before he could do anything other than stare in shock...

The explosion was earth-shattering, and Kakashi was thrown back, flying through the air, breath knocked from his chest. He hit the ground hard, rolled once, twice and then skidded to a halt in time to see the witch. The mask was gone, reduced to fine powder, and she was rising into the air as if suspended by wires. Her eyes were as black and empty as the night sky devoid of its stars, and her hair flew around her face as if winds were beating at her. Naruto was lying behind her, not moving.

“You think ice is enough to stop me?” she said, and Kakashi felt a shudder down his back. Her voice was different now, dark, almost masculine, an echo to it as if two people were speaking at the same time. “Your attempts have proven futile, and now you get to watch as I kill first your little human, and then the shifter, and then you. They can experiment on your corpse.” 

Three tendrils of flames wrapped around her, like living things, snakes slithering around her, waiting to strike. Kakashi looked around, desperate to know where Iruka was, and he saw him, too close, fear on his face as he realised what was going to happen. There were few places to hide on the street, and Kakashi wished Iruka had fled earlier, not just pulled away, but ran. The barrier was gone now, so he could have been long gone, safe. He had hidden behind a Dumpster earlier but came out when Kakashi put the mask on the witch, and there was no time to get back behind cover.

A split-second later the tendrils of fire shot out, twirling together to a lethal spear and Kakashi acted instantaneously, stopping the flames the only way he could think, with himself. He leapt into the trajectory of them, and a moment later felt white-hot pain as the flame cut deep into him, piercing his chest. 

He staggered, and as the fire vanished he dropped to a knee, panting heavily as he looked down at himself. There was a ragged hole in his chest, the flesh around it scorched black and he could tell that it was bad. Sure, he had his accelerated healing, but this was too much. He wouldn’t be able to pull through this, would bleed out before his body could knit together. 

Wasn’t this just typical, he finally had some happiness in his life, and now he was dying. Any moment before he met Iruka and he wouldn’t have been worried about death, would have welcomed the peace, but now he wished to live, wished for a life with Iruka by his side. 

He coughed and felt the taste of blood in his mouth. He could see his skin start to knit together, but he knew it was too little, it wouldn’t be enough. 

He started sagging to the side, and knew he was going to fall, but then steadying arms wrapped around his body, and Iruka was there, holding him upright. There were tears in his eyes, and his skin was white, and for a moment Kakashi thought he was hurt, but then he realised it was just fear on Iruka’s face. Fear of losing Kakashi. 

“No, don’t you dare!” Iruka said. “Don’t you dare leave me. Tell me you can heal from this, you are a vampire, you said you have better healing than humans!”

Kakashi tried smiling, but couldn’t quite manage. “I’m sorry, Iruka, this is too much, even for me.”

“No, it can’t be, I refuse. There has to be a way for me to save you, tell me! I will do anything to keep you here. I don’t want to lose you.” Iruka’s voice was cracking, but his arms were strong around Kakashi, keeping him upright. Iruka was kneeling right in front of him, so close, and Kakashi thought that if he was going to die then doing so in Iruka’s arms wouldn’t be too bad. 

***

It was like crawling out of a deep well and seeing the light again only to be pulled right back into the black depths. Rin fought against the pull of darkness, hating the cold clammy hand of it on her, something strange inside her, controlling her, making her feel violated and used, unable to stop herself from hurting. 

_I don’t want this anymore, I don’t want it. I just wanted them safe, that’s all._

A strange voice coming from herself. 

“You think ice is enough to stop me? Your attempts have proven futile, and now you get to watch as I kill first your little human, and then the shifter, and then you. They can experiment on your corpse.”

_No, stop, it’s enough, no more violence, no more killing, I can’t stand it, I’m breaking apart._

Something cold filling her, drowning her in molasses, making her a stranger in her own body, ever since Mizu gave her that potion. What had it been, what was happening to her?

She watched in horror as her own body made to kill the teacher, but then the agent, Kakashi, stepped in between, the makeshift spear piercing his body, punching a hole straight through him. She had done that, her hand had killed him. This wasn’t like the drug addicts that had been caught in the fire when she burned down the lab; distant and unseen, this was real, right in front of her. She watched in horror as the teacher ran up to Kakashi, and there was sharp grief on his face, and Rin knew that look, sorrow and grief from loss. The reasons she had done what she had, to keep her family safe so she wouldn’t be dealing with the pain of losing them. And now she was no better than those that had threatened her family. She was worse, she had killed someone. She was a murderer, and her family would be so disappointed in her. They had been so proud of her wanting to be a nurse so she could help people, and now look at her. 

Cold sorrow filled her, and this feeling was all hers, and all anger was drowning in it, and somehow that was washing away that foreign feeling inside her, and she felt herself fall to the ground, collapsing onto it with a sob as she was just her again, broken and sad and so so alone. 

***

Iruka felt so useless, so torn. His son lay on the street, knocked out but breathing, burns running up his arms and chest, and Kakashi was bleeding out in front of him, and he couldn’t save anyone. He didn’t know what to do, but he knew he had to do something, had to save Kakashi. 

What good was being a half-vampire if you couldn’t even heal to save your life, damned Kakashi! That spear had been headed for him, but Kakashi had stepped right in front of it, and now Iruka was alive, but he was losing Kakashi, was holding him as Kakashi bled out in his arms. It hurt as if he too had been hit, his chest twinging with the pain of not being able to save him.

He looked down at the wound, saw the blood pouring from Kakashi. Blood that was the most important thing for a vampire. He remembered Kakashi telling him how vampires hunted for blood because they could no longer produce it themselves since they were technically dead. How Kakashi needed occasional blood transfusions because he was stuck somewhere between human and vampire. 

Blood transfusions…

“Kakashi, will my blood help you?” Iruka asked, shaking Kakashi a little to get him to focus. 

Kakashi’s eyes widened, realising what Iruka was asking. “No, I will not.”

“Kakashi, just tell me if it will help.” Iruka had to resort to his teacher’s voice, and finally Kakashi nodded, a little hesitant. 

Iruka had no idea what was happening with the witch, she could be gearing up for another attack for all he knew. All his focus was on Kakashi, knowing that this was the way, this was how he could save him. 

He didn’t hesitate, just rolled up the sleeve of his sweater and held out his wrist.

Kakashi did nothing, so Iruka shook it in front of him. “Dammit, Kakashi, I will not watch you die. Just take some blood. See it as a transfusion, it wouldn’t be the first time I donated. I know you can stop in time, I’m not afraid of that. Naruto will make sure to stop you if you get too greedy.”

Kakashi’s mouth was still firmly closed. His lips were growing pale, and Iruka knew he was losing blood rapidly as his body tried to heal itself. 

“Kakashi, I will personally find a knife and cut my wrist open if that is what it's going to take.”

Kakashi closed his eyes, and then finally his lips parted and Iruka pushed his wrist against his mouth, and after a few more long seconds Kakashi looked up at Iruka, and then bit down. 

The pain was sharp, like thick nails slamming down into his vein. Nothing like the quick jab of a needle, but Iruka bit down a wince and kept his hand steady, knowing that if Kakashi sensed that he was in pain he would pull away, so he acted as if he didn’t feel the blood being pulled from his vein as Kakashi fed on him. 

Iruka was feeling the first traces of wooziness settle over him, and was starting to think he should say something, just hoping it would be enough to heal Kakashi, when Kakashi pulled away on his own, gently extracting his fangs. Iruka’s gaze flickered down, and to his great relief he saw Kakashi’s skin knit together where there once had been a hole. It looked raw and scarred, but Kakashi was whole again. 

“It worked? Was it enough?”

Kakashi groaned, one arm lifting to his chest, fingers tracing the new skin. He looked up, and his skin was so pale, but there was life in his eyes. “You saved me,” he simply said.

The tears that had been building in his eyes chose that moment to break free, fat drops of them streaking down his cheeks. Kakashi pulled him into his arms and they clung together, both whole, both alive. 

“What happened to the witch?” Kakashi asked suddenly, pulling away to look around, ready to protect Iruka if needed. 

Iruka wiped at his eyes, clearing them as he looked around. In the middle of the street, surrounded by melted asphalt, the witch sat on her knees, shoulders sagging, tears running freely down her cheeks. He could see her trembling, and there was something vulnerable about her. Gone were the witch with her powers radiating off her in waves, and left was a young woman, broken. 

A part of Iruka wanted to go over to her to ensure she was okay, but another part vividly remembered that she had attacked them on several occasions, so he stayed in Kakashi’s arms. His eyes met Naruto, now sitting against the wall of the building opposite the one that had been Iruka’s home. He was on the phone, no doubt talking to Sasuke. Iruka would be surprised if Sasuke wasn’t on his way over, ready to tear Naruto a new one for doing this without calling him away. They’d argue, and then they’d make up again. Something told Iruka that Sasuke and Naruto were in for the long haul together. 

He glanced down at Kakashi, seeing a tired smile directed up at him. He hoped Kakashi and him were as well. 

With the barrier gone the fire trucks had been able to start working. Iruka wasn’t even sure when, he’d been too caught up in what had been going on, hadn’t even noticed the large trucks park near, firemen working on stopping the fire from spreading to other buildings. 

Iruka’s apartment was no doubt ruined. There was nothing but a hole in the wall where his outer walls had been. Everything he owned gone in a matter of seconds, leaving him with nothing but a pair of sweatpants and a worn hoodie that he was wearing. 

Right now it didn’t even matter. Kakashi was safe, Naruto was safe, and it appeared that Iruka’s life was no longer in danger, so he didn’t care. He was sure he could crash on Sasuke and Naruto’s couch until he could find a new place to live. 

He leaned in, nuzzling against Kakashi. Several black cars were pulling up and what he was certain was agents poured out of them and surrounded the witch. Iruka had no idea what they were doing, but they appeared to be placing some spell on her because moments later she crumpled to the ground and was gently lifted and carried into a car. 

A woman, tall with unruly black hair and bright red lips walked over to them, looking impeccable in black slacks and a white shirt, a red cuff bracelet around one wrist.

Kakashi made to stand up when she approached, but Iruka stopped him. Kakashi had just been skewered, he needed rest. 

He was rewarded by a soft grin that told Iruka that Kakashi thought he was overprotective, but he couldn't care less. 

“Kakashi, are all of you well?” the woman asked. 

Iruka saw Kakashi hesitate before answering, lips pressed close together. Iruka leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Do you want a mask?”

Kakashi looked back at him and then shook his head slightly. 

“We’re all fine, Kurenai,” he said. “Got a little stabbed, but I’m all patched up again.”

Iruka could see how Kurenai’s widened a little, whether from seeing the fangs, or from Kakashi’s blase words he didn’t know, but to her merit, she didn’t say anything, didn’t act as if seeing Kakashi without a mask was anything out of the ordinary at all. 

“I’m glad. We’re taking the witch back to the DPA. We’ll place a complete lock on her powers there, then we’ll find out how to proceed. There’s likely to be a trial, so be prepared to be called in, the both of you.” She added the latter as she nodded at Iruka. “When you are feeling up to it there are a few ambulances near, get checked up properly before leaving.”

“I’ll make sure he does,” Iruka shot in before Kakashi could wave it off. 

Kurenai smiled a little. “Good. I’ll see you later then, we have a lot of clean-up to do here.”

Iruka looked over the area, seeing the devastation left behind. One building still burning, its inhabitants huddled by ambulances, having stayed far away from the fighting. Iruka only hoped everyone had been able to get out safe, that no one had died in the fire. 

Naruto had been joined by Sasuke who was currently in the middle of yelling at him. Naruto just grinned bashfully, but as Iruka watched Sasuke seemed to give up and instead pulled Naruto close, kissing him hard. 

Iruka looked away, smiling a little. 

“Help me up?” Kakashi asked, “I think I’m about ready to go home.”

“Let me take you to the ambulance first. You look pale, I think you need a proper blood transfusion. Then I’ll take you home, and then I’ll ask Naruto if I can crash on their couch for a while.” Iruka grabbed Kakashi’s hand, helping him stand, holding him steady with an arm around his midriff. 

“About that,” Kakashi said, and Iruka thought he was about to argue the visit to the paramedics. “I was thinking… Maybe, if you want, you could stay with me? I have plenty of room, and you wouldn't have to sleep on the couch, and…”

“Kakashi, you’re sure? I wouldn’t be intruding?”

Kakashi stopped and shifted so they were facing each other, Iruka’s arms around his waist, holding him gently. “Iruka, I would love nothing more than to have you in my apartment. You can stay just until you find a new apartment, or, if you want, you could stay indefinitely.”

Iruka blinked up at him, eyes suddenly teary again, and without another word he pulled Kakashi close, kissing him hard, right there in the middle of the broken street, surrounded by firemen and paramedics. There was a distant wolf whistle that he was sure was Naruto, but he just grinned into the kiss, only pulling away to whisper against Kakashi’s lips. “I love you, Kakashi Hatake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, just the epilogue to go! (Can you tell that I have read way too many vampire romance books with that impromptu blood donation? XD)


	15. Chapter 15

Snowflakes were falling gently and the city was quiet, the holidays casting a blanket of calm over everyone. Outside the windows of the living room, Christmas lights were wrapped around the railing of the balcony, twinkling like stars to make up for the light pollution hiding the real stars from view. 

Inside the living room, a slightly crooked Christmas tree was pushed into a corner, needles already falling from its branches, but no one cared much about that. There were no more presents underneath the tree, only some stray pieces of wrapping paper and some orange ribbon that had at one point been wrapped around a present. The present in question was unwrapped and lay on a side table to be thoroughly appreciated later. Currently, the four occupants of the room were curled up underneath thick blankets, cups of hot chocolate in their hands.

Kakashi looked around the room in amazement, thinking back to how most holidays had been spent. He’d spend Christmas day at the office and when he finally came home it was to a bland apartment, no Christmas decorations and nothing but a frozen meal and bad TV to look forward to. 

He much preferred this. His apartment was still fairly bland, but now there was a tree, and pillows and blankets on his couch, and a stack of paperwork on a side table that featured a lot more drawings than his paperwork ever had. Small parts of Iruka taking over the coldness that had been his apartment, slowly turning it into a home. 

When he woke on Christmas day it was to the sounds of soft breathing next to him in the bed, and a stack of presents underneath the tree. There had been Christmas movies and Christmas dinner and now they were sitting together, Iruka and him on the couch, Naruto and Sasuke in an armchair, seemingly caring little that it was only meant for one. 

“You have a little…” Iruka said, voice soft and warm, and Kakashi turned towards him. 

Iruka leaned closer and used his thumb to swipe across Kakashi’s top lip, sticking the finger in his mouth afterwards. “Sorry, you had some whipped cream there,” he said, mischief twinkling in his eye. 

It was a little odd to be sitting without a mask, even now. He’d decided to stop hiding and forgo the mask after they’d stopped the witch, but he felt naked without the fabric. He found himself reaching for it most mornings, but he was slowly starting to adjust. He’d told his unit the truth about what he was and they had all accepted him readily as if it didn’t matter to them at all. Kakashi had been a little stunned, even if he supposed he shouldn’t be. They were a great group after all. They were used to having each other’s backs, they weren’t going to turn away from him for something he couldn’t control. 

He still took care to hide his fangs around strangers, didn’t talk much if he didn’t have to, and if anyone had noticed them, they hadn’t said anything to his face. He was sure some people would take a problem with it when they learned about the half-vampire in the DPA, but he would face those issues when they arose. 

“Sure I did,” he said to Iruka. “In fact, I think maybe you have a little too…” 

Iruka only smiled as Kakashi leaned in and kissed his top lip, tongue dipping out to trace along it fleetingly. “Yeah, all gone now.”

Iruka laughed, shoving at Kakashi, but then leaning against him again, pulling the blanket a little tighter around them. 

The weeks since they stopped the witch had been among the best in Kakashi’s life. When he came home from work now it wasn’t to an empty apartment, it was to Iruka, curled up on the couch working on lesson plans, looking up at him and without fail putting down what he was doing to get up and greet Kakashi with a kiss. 

There had been some less enjoyable things as well. Preliminary hearings to go through, testimonies to be given. According to Kurenai, the witch had gone along with everything willingly, whatever darkness forced on her gone, leaving her meek and a little broken. Her family had been put under protective custody when she told the DPA her reasoning for doing what she had done. Kurenai thought they had a good reason to believe she could be rehabilitated with time, and Kakashi was glad. They dealt with so much death in their line of work, and Kakashi’s unit never really had any cases with a truly good outcome, the vampires were always put down in the end, no remorse was shown. 

Kurenai’s team had gone to the Mist coven to find out what had been going on, but by the time they got there it was too late. The house was empty save for the corpse of a dark-haired woman, what else remained of the coven long gone. Whether they had just moved, or something else had happened, Kurenai didn’t know. They were working to find out, but she wasn’t too positive they would find their answers. There were no traces of where they had gone off to, as if they’d just up and vanished into thin air. Kakashi was thinking they might never get to know what had truly transpired at that house, apart from what the witch could tell them.

It didn’t matter. Kakashi had a feeling they wouldn’t be hunted by witches anymore. Life was looking brighter than he could remember it ever doing. It had a purpose now. He had a job he had taken to fulfil someone else's dream, but along the way he found it had become his dream as well. It felt good to know he was making a difference in the world, and he hoped eventually they would find a way to wipe out the vampire plague for good, to close off the way between the demon realm and theirs, keeping humanity safe. In the meanwhile his unit would be there, fighting for the innocents. And when his workday was over he didn’t stay in the office, he went home. Home to a man who loved him. 

There was some scuffling from across the room, and Naruto fought his way out from underneath Sasuke, mug of hot chocolate kept protective in the air. “I ate all the marshmallows, I need a refill!” he exclaimed as Sasuke nearly toppled out of the chair altogether. 

“Dumbass, you can’t just keep refilling the mug with marshmallow, you’re going to get diabetes!” Sasuke called after him as he got to his feet, trailing after Naruto into the kitchen. Kakashi could hear them bickering as Naruto no doubt dug through drawers for more marshmallow, and probably some other sweets as well. 

Kakashi used the moments alone to turn to Iruka, leaning in and kissing him. He didn’t think he would ever tired of that, feeling Iruka’s soft lips against his, the way he smiled into the kiss, the way he followed when Kakashi tried to pull away. 

In theory, Iruka was supposed to be looking for another place to live, but Kakashi wasn’t sure Iruka had even looked at a single ad. He didn’t mind, he liked having Iruka here, liked how he made an empty shell into a home merely by his presence. 

He took Iruka’s hand in his and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss against knuckles. “Iruka, will you move in with me?” he asked, moving Iruka’s hand to press against his chest, right over his heart. 

When he looked at him Iruka was grinning. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Smiling at each other, Christmas light twinkling, the sound of bickering in the background; everything was perfect. 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s done. It’s finally done! 
> 
> When I started writing Partners six (SIX!) years ago I had a vague idea of a fic in a Criminal Minds type office setting, but with vampires. I hoped I’d be able to make it around 30K words because that was my Camp NaNoWriMo goal that July. Now it’s a trilogy and over 400K words, and I still have no idea how that happened. XD Thank you to everyone that’s read and commented and left kudos, you guys are the reason I kept going all these years. As it stands Partners: The Series is now complete, and I have no immediate plans to write more in this universe, but there are some unanswered questions still lingering. Who was the mastermind in the Mist coven? Did any readers ever catch the hint of a possible Orochimaru storyline I snuck in in Partners? Will I really be able to abandon this universe? 
> 
> For now, I’m saying goodbye to Partners. I hope you’ve all enjoyed, excuse me while I go to be very emotional. <3


End file.
